


Unwound

by wednesdays__child



Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: Age Regression/De-Aging, Angst, Canon-Typical Violence, Case Fic, Eventual Smut, Flirting, Gratuitous use of Southern Accent, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M, Teen Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-25
Updated: 2018-05-25
Packaged: 2019-05-13 16:10:18
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 45,932
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14752068
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wednesdays__child/pseuds/wednesdays__child
Summary: Aaron Hotchner has a crush on the youngest member of his team but he can't bring himself to do anything about it. When a case in Florida takes an usual turn, how will it effect Aaron and his relationship with his entire team?





	Unwound

**Author's Note:**

> I loved this idea and was so happy to get to write it for the CM Big Bang. I had no idea this simple idea would turn into a huge, epic tale. I hope you like it.
> 
> Betaed by Dazeventura6. You are amazing.
> 
> Art by Rivermoon1970. I adore it and you!!
> 
> Special thanks to the ladies of the chat. Your brainstorming helped make this possible. 
> 
> Author's Note: There will be no underage sex happening in this fic.

** Unwound **

** **

_"Unfortunately, the clock is ticking, the hours are going by. The past increases, the future recedes. Possibilities decreasing, regrets mounting." ~ Haruki Murakami_

Hotch sighed while he stood in his office, staring out through the window at the bullpen below. He smiled as he watched the team interact with each other with such ease and grace, a comradery he envied. Derek was busy teasing Emily while the young genius was trying to finish the file he’d been working on the entire time that Hotch had been watching. He knew exactly what that meant – Spencer wasn’t working on it at all. The only time Spencer spent over ten minutes per case file was on cold cases or if he was actually using it as a ruse to spy on his co-workers.

To Hotch, it certainly seemed to be the latter.

He watched as the young genius kept sneaking glances up at the two profilers. He wondered what was going on there. Derek and Emily had been close – not like they had been intimate or anything – but sometimes team members got too close and Hotch would get a talking to, just like he had the week before from Chief Strauss. The Section Chief had read him the riot act about Morgan and Penelope…again. It wasn’t the first time that he’d had to explain away the verbal sparring between his SIC and Tech Analyst and he was sure it wouldn’t be the last, mostly because he was not going to stop them from being who they were, whether Erin Strauss liked it or not. But Derek and Emily appeared to be fighting over something and Aaron wondered what had set them off.

Finished with the good-natured teasing, Emily lightly hit Derek on the arm, a signal that whatever had happened between the two of them was over before slowly turning away – right before a small paperclip bounced off the back of her head. She turned quickly, launching into a brand new attack on his SIC while Spencer remained hidden in his file. But Aaron knew better. He looked down and was not surprised to see Spencer had constructed a mini catapult that he had hidden within the file that he was using to spark the fight.

“Spencer Reid,” he whispered lightly, fighting to keep the amused smirk off his face to little success. Despite his best intentions, Aaron was having a difficult time shielding his heart from the charms of their resident genius. He had started to really notice the younger man during the disaster that was the custodial with Chester Hardwick. Of course he’d noted how attractive Spencer was when he’d first joined the team, because who could look at the gawky young man with his perfect cheekbones, luminous skin and chestnut colored curls and not think him beautiful, but Aaron wasn’t interested at the time. His attention was pulled in another direction. But then Haley was gone, sleeping with someone else, and Spencer had been so wonderful on that trip, first saving both their lives, then being concerned for not only Aaron’s heart but for his well-being, Aaron’s attention shifted.

He looked down, noting the pull of a smile around Spencer’s eyes – a look he knew too well. After he’d been shot, Spencer had developed a habit of just showing up at Aaron’s apartment under the guise that he needed help with his brace and his meds but Aaron knew the truth – that Spencer was checking up on him, making sure he was taking care of himself and not diving into a pit of self-loathing with his son suddenly gone. But even after they’d both healed, Spencer continued to come around, bringing food and company that Aaron needed more than he realized.

Then Haley was gone and Spencer was the only one who bothered to come by and make sure he was surviving. Sure, Dave came to the graveyard and Garcia brought him by enough baked goods to keep him and Jack happy for weeks, but Spencer made sure that they were going to be alright. He’d play with Jack or read to him, helping Aaron with dinner or Jack with his homework. And the look on Spencer’s face right now was exactly like the look he’d had two nights before – right before he’d talked Jack into splashing Hotch with the bubbles from his bubble bath.

A warm smile spread over his face and Aaron couldn’t help but chuckle.

He noticed JJ was heading his way, her arms laden with files. She had a look – one very different from Spencer’s.

She was in his office before he had a chance to sit behind his desk, so he simply turned to greet her with a simple, “How bad?”

She sighed and handed him four very thick files.

“Very.”

Quickly, Aaron began to page through the reports and photos that made him shudder internally.

“Let’s get the team together,” he said as he handed the files back to the blonde. “I’ll call the pilot to get the jet ready. Have Garcia ready to present in five.”

“Sure thing.”

He watched her go before shooting off a text to Jessica to let her know they were heading out for a case before calling to get the jet prepped. When he stepped out of his office, he poked his head into Dave’s, giving the elder profiler a small nod, before heading to the railing and calling down to the bullpen, “Roundtable room everyone.”

Without another word, the rest of the team stood and made their way to the conference room, each of them settling in their normal spots without a word.

“Get your sandals and sunscreen ready, crime fighters. You are headed down South.”

Reid groaned loudly. “Not Florida again.”

“Yes Florida. The land of bikinis and balt salts. I wonder why so much weird stuff happens in Florida. Any insight on that Boy Wonder?”

“Actually, the influx of different people from different cultures tends to lend itself to…”

“Reid,” Aaron interrupted, his voice commanding but still gentle. “I don’t think now is the time.” He looked at Spencer and gave him just a small lift of one corner of his mouth, letting him know he wasn’t angry, just on a time crunch. When Spencer nodded back, he said, “Please, continue Garcia.”

“Okay, well you are heading to Jacksonville, Florida where some hinkiness has been occuring. Over the last two months, four woman ages forty to forty-five have gone missing. The women, all successful, single professionals, were taken from public places in the early evening hours on a Tuesday or Wednesday night. The women were never seen again. The oddity is that ten to twelve days after the women went missing, a young girl who looks surprisingly like the older woman is found in St. Augustine, starved, tortured and mutilated.”

Aaron sighed, watching as the blonde shuddered at the photos popping up behind her. It was as if she knew what was behind her, even if she couldn’t see them.

“How come it took four disappearances before we were called in?” Emily asked.

“Even though all four girls were found in St. Augustine, the disappearances happened in different towns like Jacksonville, Orlando and Miami. The different jurisdictions didn’t put it together until they started looking at the girls.”

“And no one has reported the girls missing?” Morgan asked.

“Not a peep. It’s like they just showed up out of nowhere.”

Hotch took control then. “The last body was found about two hours ago and we’ve been invited in. Get your go-bags, everyone. Wheels up in twenty.”

As they all stood, Spencer quietly grumbled, “Why Florida? Nothing good happens in Florida.”

Aaron couldn’t help but chuckle. He could only hope that this case didn’t turn out worse than any of the others they’d had in the Sunshine State.

*************

Aaron looked around the cabin of the jet, quietly waiting for the members of his team to get settled so they could discuss the particulars of this odd case. He couldn’t help but track the movements of the youngest of them all. Spencer made sure to wait for everyone else to get their coffee or tea before moving into the small kitchenette to make a cup of whatever his heart desired. Aaron was surprised to see two steaming mugs in his hands. When Spencer handed one to Aaron, the older man arched an eyebrow at the genius.

Spencer just smiled as he settled in the seat across for his boss. “You were yawning earlier,” he explained. “I figure Jack must not have wanted to go to bed last night considering that he has that big science project due in next week. Was he up with questions all night?”

Aaron couldn’t help but chuckle. Once again, Spencer had figured it out perfectly. “He’s so worried it won’t work. I know you’ve explained it to him a hundred times but he’s still so sure it’s going to fail.”

“Don’t worry, Hotch. I’ll be sure to come over when we get back to do another test run. I have no problem explaining for the one hundred and first time.”

Aaron shook his head as he lifted the steaming cup of tea to lips, nearly moaning at the taste of the perfect cup. “Thanks. This is perfect.”

“Any time, Hotch.”

Seeing that everyone had settled, Aaron set down the mug to open his casefile. “Okay, what have we got?”

“Well, every one of the girls ends up looking remarkably similar to each of the women that has gone missing,” Morgan started. “Maybe he has a type. First he finds and abducts the woman, then he searches for a suitable girl to fit that ideal.”

“But then what does he do with the woman?” Emily asked.

“Maybe he still has her,” Rossi interjected. “Keeps her until he can find a suitable replacement?”

“Then why would he need another woman?” JJ asked. “If he were keeping them, wouldn’t he just go out and find a girl that looked like the woman he kept?”

“Unless now that he’s found the girl that matches that ideal and kills her, he needs something new to find and kill.”

Aaron shook his head at the postulation. “I doubt he would keep four women if he has started moving on to other targets. Until we have a reason to think otherwise, we will assume the women are still alive but I think it is probably safe to say that it is very unlikely that we will find them alive.”

The mood was very somber then, everyone quiet in the small cabin.

After a moment or two, they continued as if nothing had been said. Garcia gave her update on everything they had on the missing women, including any ways they might have met or have some sort of crossover, but so far she’d found nothing. He couldn’t help but notice how quiet Spencer had been through the entire discussion.

“Reid, JJ, you two go to the ME and see what we can find out about the bodies. There has to be a way to identify who these girls were. After that, head to the station. Reid can get started on the geographic profile and JJ, talk to the families of the missing women as they come in. Rossi and Morgan, you go to the last two disposal sites and see if you can come up with any correlations. Emily, you’ll be with me at the first two sites. Garcia, keep us posted on any new information.”

Everyone nodded or otherwise answered in the affirmative as they prepared for descent.

************

Aaron stood before the murder board, staring at the pictures before him. He couldn’t help but feel perplexed. This case was making him more and more uneasy the more they uncovered. The disposal sites seemed as diverse as the women that had gone missing or the girls they found dead. He couldn’t see a pattern anywhere and it was making him itch with the unease of it. He was getting a little anxious waiting for Spencer to return, sure that, somehow the genius would come up with something from the ME and maybe even narrow things down with a geographic profile.

The quiet rumble of his phone pulled Aaron away from his musing and he couldn’t help the smile that pulled at his lips when he saw it was Spencer.

“Reid,” he greeted quickly as he put the phone on speaker. “Tell me you found something.”

“Hotch, I think we found something but I want to tell the whole team in person. I really don’t want to have to explain this twice.”

Aaron frowned at the phone. He didn’t like the sound of that at all.

“Is everything okay?”

“No,” Spencer said, his voice harsh and on edge. “No it’s really not.”

Aaron looked up at Emily, his frown creasing his face even further.

“Get here quick,” he replied before stabbing at the end button on his phone.

“What was that about?” Emily asked.

“I have no idea. You heard as much as I did,”

“That’s not what I’m talking about.” Emily was smiling at him in a way that instantly made Aaron nervous. “I’m talking about that smile you got when you saw who was calling.”

Aaron scoffed despite the fact that he knew his face was slowly turning bright red, giving him away for sure. He took a second to wonder who else on the team knew. If Prentiss had caught on, he was sure at least Rossi would know as well.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he replied, trying to intimidate her with a harsh scowl.

“Sure,” she drawled as she turned and walked away, making Aaron wonder, not for the first time, if it was time for a new team. This one was getting to know him just a little bit too well.

*************

By the time JJ and Spencer made it to the station, the rest of the team had assembled. The young genius had his arms laden with files. When Aaron stepped forward to help, Spencer moved out of arm's reach. A quick look at JJ told Aaron to leave it alone, at least for now.

“Clear the table everyone,” the Unit Chief ordered as he helped move the files that were scattered about. Once the table’s surface was cleared, Spencer began to lay out the files he’d brought back from the ME. They all began to look at the photos of the murdered girls.

Spencer took a deep breath before speaking.

“All four girls were found naked and bound in a ditch in or around St. Augustine. According to the ME, they had all been systematically raped, beaten and starved before they were finally strangled by the Unsub. There was also some fluid found in their lungs, indicating they may have been submerged in water for some time.”

“From what she could see, the torture was carried out by the Unsub using his fists to beat them. He also scratched, pinched and bit them before finally strangling them with his bare hands,” JJ interjected.

“So we’re looking for someone physically fit,” Morgan said, nodding. “Probably younger, mid-twenties or early thirties. You’d need stamina for something like this.”

“And he has large hands,” Rossi commented. “Look at the size of the finger marks on their necks.”

“But what’s the big revelation, Reid?” Aaron prompted. “There was something you didn’t want to say over the phone.”

“This.”

Spencer had pulled out a photo of the latest victim. She looked no more than thirteen, the bruising around her face and neck bright and livid.

“What about her?”

“When the ME did her examination, she said the girl had to have been held from seven to ten days due to the level of dehydration and starvation. But as we were looking at her, I noticed this.”

Holding out the photo, they all looked to where Spencer was pointing.

“What is that?” Emily asked. “Does she have a genetic disorder?”

Aaron looked closer. The young girls right hip looked off, like the bone wasn’t sitting right in the socket.

“Did he dislocate her hip? Maybe to keep her from running away?”

“No,” Spencer replied. “It was this.”

The next photo he revealed had them all gasping in shock. This young girl appeared to have had a total hip replacement.

“Why would a thirteen year old girl need a hip replacement?” Morgan asked.

“Again - maybe a genetic disorder?” Emily asked.

“There are no other indications of a underlying disorder,” Spencer replied.

“So what is it?”

“I have my suspicions but I’m having Garcia trace the serial number on the implant now,” Spencer said with a sigh, looking worried at Aaron. “We will see if she confirms them.”

“Alright then,” Aaron sighed as he watched the tension radiating off his youngest team member. “Work on the geographic profile, Reid. JJ and Morgan, go finish the interviews with the family members. We need to find out how he’s finding and abducting his victims.”

Everyone nodded and quickly went their separate ways, hurrying to complete their duties. Aaron waited until everyone had cleared out before stepping up to the young man now making forceful marks on the map before him.

“What are you thinking, Spencer?”

Spencer sighed, closing his eyes as he pinched the bridge of his nose in an all too familiar gesture. Aaron knew that Spencer was distressed.

“Something unimaginable,” he replied, his voice soft and strained.

It was several minutes later when the phone rang. They turned and looked at it before Aaron reached over to push the button to answer the call. Spencer stepped out and waved to get the remainder of the team’s attention. Once everyone was assembled, Aaron continued, “Go ahead, Garcia.”

“Ewww,” the Technical Analyst complained over the line. “I hate this, you guys know that. I mean, I love a good mystery of the Scooby Doo variety but this is just too much. I mean honestly, we may have to call Sam and Dean in on this one.”

“Garcia,” Aaron interrupted. Not only was she rambling, but he had no idea what she was talking about.

“Right. Sorry. Normally, I could enter the data the good doctor gave and have an answer lickety split but this one was a little tricky. I finally tracked the serial number on the implant to a surgery that was completed in India in 2008. The overseas records were harder to track down.”

“India?” Rossi asked.

“A lot of insurance companies won’t cover all the costs of some surgeries such as hip and knee replacements in the US,” Reid explained. “Increased prices of doctors, anesthesia and hospital stays make it difficult for some people to be able to afford the copayments and the non-covered amounts. As a result, there is an increase of people who are travelling overseas for treatment. In most cases, traveling to countries like India or others in Europe such as Spain, even with an extended recovery time and physical therapy bill, ends up being cheaper than having the surgery stateside.”

“So someone took this little girl to India for a hip replacement?” Morgan asked.

“No,” Garcia replied, “Devin Martin went to India and had the surgery done. I confirmed it with her travel records.”

Everyone’s eyes shot up to the board holding the pictures of the missing women. Devin Martin was the most recent woman to disappear.

“But…” JJ started.

“How..?” Emily whispered.

“But she’s thirteen,” Morgan said. “How is that possible?”

“It’s not,” Aaron answered as he started at the picture of the pretty strawberry blonde before him.

“If you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth,” Spencer recited.

“Sherlock Holmes,” Aaron muttered.

“Actually, that’s Mr. Spock,” Spencer said, smiling lightly when Aaron smirked back at him.

“I do believe that Mr. Spock attributed that quote to a ancestor of his, hence Sherlock Holmes.”

“In the Undiscovered Country. But in the rebooted version, Quinto’s Spock says…”

“Guys,” Morgan interrupted with a look of exasperation on his face. “If you’re done with the geekfest, can we move on?”

“Sorry,” they both apologized quietly before Aaron asked, “So you’re saying this thirteen year old girl actually **is** Devin Martin.”

“I am.”

“How?”

Spencer shook his head. “I do not know.”

“So does that mean all the girls..?” JJ stopped, letting the word hang between them.

“I think so,” Spencer sighed as he paged through the photos. “The ME is waiting for me to call back with my ideas. I think we should be able to do some DNA analysis to verify that the victims are actually the missing women who have been de-aged somehow.”

“This is unreal,” Rossi complained.

“It’s like a bad science fiction movie,” Emily whispered.

“This isn’t a movie,” Aaron stated. “This is real life and we need to find out how and why he’s doing this. Let’s get to it, folks.”

*************

Aaron couldn’t help the sinking feeling that seemed to settle in the depths of his belly. His kept being drawn to the pictures of Devin Martin – both young and old. He knew Spencer was right, as unbelievable as it seemed, it must be the truth. This forty-two year old woman was no longer missing – she was their thirteen year old victim.

“It was the first thing I noticed,” Spencer said quietly behind him, startling Aaron from his thoughts. He looked down and realized he was holding onto the picture of the girl’s hip, distorted from the metal implant right under the skin. “Somehow, right then, I knew but I didn’t want to believe it. We should wait for the results of the other three victims but I know it will be the same.”

“It’s them,” Aaron answered as he put the photo back on the board with a finality he felt in his bones. “Now we just have to find out how.”

“Actually, I have some thoughts about that.”

Aaron turned around to face the youngest of them all, shocked to discover how close Spencer was standing. The genius, however, refused to move. He simply leaned forward, pushing further into Aaron’s personal bubble, forcing the older man to lean away despite his desire to press into the warm body before him. Spencer pulled back once he snagged the map from where it was precariously perched on the board.

“I think I’ve got the geographic profile just about nailed down,” Spencer said as he laid the map out on the table before bending over to point out the marks he’d made. Aaron bit his lips so hard at the sight he was sure they were going to bleed. “The disappearances have happened in the larger surrounding cities likes Jacksonville and Orlando but they girls have all been found in the remote areas around St. Augustine. Florida is filled with state parks and conservation areas and each of the girls were found in one. Washington Oaks Garden State Park, Anastasia State Park, Twelve Mile Swamp Conservation Area and Canopy Shores Park. I think maybe these areas have some sort of significance.”  
Something on the map drew Aaron’s attention and he leaned in further to get a better look. His eyes, it seemed, were beginning to fail him in his old age and he had to squint as he took in the name – Ponce de Leon.

“Reid, you don’t think..?”

Before he could get the thought out, the door to the conference room burst open and both men shot up as if they’d been burned.

“There’s another woman missing,” the Sheriff declared before promptly turning to leave, both members of the BAU hot on his heels.

*************

“Tara LaVey,” the Sheriff said as he stood beside the vacant, generic looking four door sedan. “Forty-seven year old single female. Instructor at the local junior college and well  
known advocate for animal rights in the area. She had been here grocery shopping and someone heard her screaming for help. It appears to have been a four wheel drive white Chevy Suburban with barn doors on the back. Shouldn’t be too hard to find.”

“What did CSI find in the vehicle?” Aaron asked.

One of the techs turned to address the Unit Chief. “He left behind her purse including her wallet and car keys. No money was taken and her groceries are still in the trunk.”

“No cell phone?”

“Not that we’ve located yet.”

Aaron quickly dialed the phone before waiting for the Tech Analyst to answer.

“Oh great boss man, what can I do for you?”

“Garcia, it appears that our newest victim might still have her cell phone on her. Would you see if you can locate it?”

Aaron listened intently as the younger woman quickly typed away, fingers rattling over the keys with surprising speed. “No such luck. It appears to be powered off at the moment.”

“Put a trace on it so we know as soon as it’s turned on.”

“Done and done, my liege. You’ll know the second I do.”

“Thanks, Garcia.” he hung up quickly, wondering if they would find this one before it was too late.

*************

Aaron sighed as he paced around the station house. He hated waiting, he always had, but he knew that sometimes with a Unsub, the only way to catch them was to wait. The rest of the team was interviewing family members and friends of the newest victim while Aaron stared at the map Spencer had marked up with pins and ink. Sighing, he finally reached for the suit jacket he had discarded earlier due to the heat.

“Reid,” he said quietly. “You’re with me.”

“Where are we going, Hotch?”

“The last dump site. I want to take another look around.”

“I’ll get the others.”

“No. Tell them where we’re going. I want them to finish the interviews.”

Spencer stood, simply watching him, searching for tells. Finally satisfied, the younger man nodded before moving away quickly to tell the rest of the team where they were heading. Once they were in the SUV, Spencer asked, “What’s bugging you, Hotch?”

Aaron shook his head, not really sure what to say, unsure about revealing his suspicions. Finally, he sighed as he looked at his passenger from the corner of his eye.

“There was a story when I was a kid. My granddad talked about a mystical spring that could heal the body and soul. Some called it the Fountain of Youth because when you were healed, you felt transformed into something younger, something better. He was very ill at the time, cancer of the lungs, and he asked if I’d go looking for it for him. I asked him how to find it, where it was. He said it only came to those who had a great desire for it. The spring hid itself from those who would exploit it so I would have to prove myself worthy.”

Spencer was staring at him, his brows squished together. “What did you do?”

“I went looking for it,” Aaron answered, sighing heavily. “Every extra minute I had I was out in the woods around our property searching for it. I would bring some samples from every river, creek or stream I found. He drank every one but in the end the cancer took him anyway.”

“How old were you?”

“Nine.”

Spencer was silent for a moment. “Wow. That must have been rough on you.”

Aaron snorted a small chuckle, shaking his head lightly. “Well, it was nightmare inducing, that’s for sure. It wasn’t until I went away to boarding school that I found out my granddad had lied to me.”

He went silent for several minutes, his hands gripping the steering wheel so tight that his knuckles turned white.

“And now…now I’m wondering if maybe he wasn’t lying. What if there really is a spring that heals, that turns people young and the Unsub is using it to make these women his ideal?”

“You’re saying the Unsub is a hebephile. He’s finding women he likes and then puts them in the spring to make them his ideal age.”

“And the reason why we can’t locate the site of the spring is because it moves or only reveals itself when people need it.”

“Hence the different disposal sites.”

They both fell silent until they pulled up to the small, cordoned off area surrounded by low hanging trees and thick, lush bushes. Both men moved beneath the yellow police tape and began to search the area despite the fact that it had been searched over and over again. They walked in silence, searching for some sort of clue.

“What do you think it is?” Spencer asked.

“What?””

“Do you think he calls for it or maybe it calls to him?”

Aaron sighed as he looked down at his feet, kicking around loose bits of dirt and gravel. “I don’t know. I always hoped…”

He was stopped short as his phone began to ring. Pulling out his phone, he quickly put it on speaker.

“Tell me you’ve got something, Garcia.”

“I do and how! Tara’s cell phone just turned on and it’s moving.”

“He’s on the move,” Spencer nodded as he and Hotch began to race back toward the vehicle.

“Where Garcia?”

“Not far from your location actually. Sending coordinates now.”

Aaron quickly started the car and put it in gear once he and Spencer were strapped in securely. They drove through the wooded area, following the Analyst’s directions until finally they saw a old beat up Suburban parked along the side of a well used path. As they approached, Spencer gasped.

“We drove through here on the way up. There was no water here at all.”

Aaron simply nodded as he concentrated on driving over the dirt and gravel covered road. They could both see the horror up ahead, a shorter, dark haired man dragging a screaming woman by the hair toward the water. Hotch instantly recognized her as their missing woman.

“The rest of the Scoobies are on their way,” Garcia declared through the speaker phone. “Don’t do anything rash, kids. Help is on the way.”

Screeching to halt, both men jumped from the SUV, pulling their weapons as they did so. When they reached the edge of the water, Aaron shouted out over the woman’s screams.

“Freeze, FBI!”

The man turned to face the two agents before he began to laugh. With an evil smirk, he knocked the woman’s legs out from under her before he began to try to force her beneath the water’s surface. She fought back, screaming and kicking and once he realized there was no way he could get a decent shot, Aaron took off running. Once he reached the edge of the water, he dove in, hoping to reach the woman before the Unsub was able to drown her. Bursting up from beneath the water’s surface, Aaron rammed his shoulder into the Unsub’s rib cage, knocking the air out of him and loosening his hold on his victim.

The woman, still gasping and crying began clawing her way out of the water, working hard to keep her head above its surface. Spencer waded in, helping her out onto dry land before quickly checking her out to make sure she was unharmed. Once he was satisfied that she was, he turned his attention back to the fight still raging in the water before him.

Fists were flying, and although Aaron had a better reach, the Unsub was using his height to his advantage, using the buoyancy of the water to come up and under the taller man to drop him back into the water’s wet embrace. Hotch came up gasping, fighting for breath before he was dunked under again. He was able to find his footing beneath him and he pushed up hard, slamming his left fist beneath the Unsub’s chin and rattling him for a moment. Aaron coughed and sputtered, trying to get the water out of his lungs, nose and mouth before the Unsub turned cold eyes toward him.

“You ruined it!” the man shreked in a high pitched, enraged voice.

Aaron could hear the sounds of sirens and revving engines and he knew that the team was on the way right before all of that was silenced as he was dunked beneath the surface again. He fought to hold his breath as long as he could but his heart was racing from the fight and his lungs burned from the lack of oxygen. He gasped and water filled his mouth. He pushed it out, fighting to reach the surface but strong hands held him down.

Then there was a sharp crack resounding in the air, a loud splash and then those hands were gone. Hotch popped up to the surface, filled his lungs with huge gasping breaths. He turned to see the Unsub in the water, blood spreading out around him, pouring from a gunshot wound in his shoulder. Aaron looked up to see Spencer still pointing his gun in their direction before he began to make his way toward the still gasping Unit Chief. The remainder of the team had arrived and while Rossi and JJ were looking after the still crying woman on the banks, Prentiss and Morgan were following Spencer slogging through the mostly shallow water.

Despite the wound to his shoulder, the Unsub continued to fight as Prentiss and Morgan pulled him toward the shore. Spencer had wrapped his arms around the soaked Unit Chief, helping him stand as Hotch continued to wretch and cough and try to expel the water from his lungs. Supporting as much weight as he could, Spencer helped Aaron toward the shore until suddenly the older man jerked and cried out. Pain gripped all along every nerve ending as Hotch collapsed, dropping to his knees in the shallow, murky water. The pain grew, increasingly more painful until it burned pure white beneath his skin.

Chocolate eyes shot open, staring up into shocked, concerned hazel orbs. Spencer was talking to him, asking him something but Aaron couldn’t make out the words over the roar of pain in his ears. It was like everything hurt - every bone, every muscle, even his hair hurt. He cried out until it all became too much and the pain dragged him down into comforting darkness.

**************

Aaron woke slowly, the sounds and smells of a hospital all around him. It made sense in its own weird way. Everything hurt and as he catalogued every ache and pain, he realized that wasn’t an exaggeration. Literally every part of him hurt. He wondered for a moment what he’d done this time to get a beating like this. The latest infraction that had set his father off was not nearly bad enough for the type of beating that would send him to the hospital. Then suddenly he remembered. In his anger at his father’s verbal lashing over the B he’d gotten in French, he’d stolen a bottle of the old man’s favorite bourbon and had snuck out onto the back forty to get spectacularly drunk. That would definitely get him sent to the hospital.

Shifting slightly, Aaron let out a small groan of pain. It felt as if every bone and muscle had been pulled and manipulated. It reminded him of last summer when he’d grown four inches over three months. The pain in his knees kept him up most nights, but he’d learned after the first night trying to crawl into bed with him mama for some comfort not to complain about that ever again. He’d been crying when he’d entered the room but had left sobbing with sore knees and a bruised back and bottom, crawling back into his own large, lonely bed.

“I think he’s waking up,” he heard whispered near the edge of the bed. The voice sounded familiar but he couldn’t quite place who it could be. It wasn’t his mama and he knew his father wouldn’t allow anyone else to see him, not in the state he was sure to be in.

Slowly, his eyes began to flutter as he tried opening them against the bright lights of the stark room.

“Ya’ mind turning them lights down a bit,” he drawled, his words soft and sleepy from whatever painkiller they gave him to make him compliant this time. “Ererything hurts and that includes my eyeballs. Y’all sure didn’t give me enough shit to kill this fuckin’ headache.”

He heard the gasp of voices around him and it made him smirk. He loved getting a rise out of adults with his language. His mama always told him it made him sound less intelligent but he knew it was just because it was scandalous for a fourteen year old to use those words.

Finally a bank of lights went out and he was able to open his eyes enough to see who was in the room with him.

The sight stopped him cold. These were no doctors and nurses. They looked like cops, detectives maybe by the way they dressed. They were all much too casual to be beat cops for sure. He looked from face to face and was shocked to feel a spark of recognition but he didn’t know them, couldn’t know them. He had to have drank so much that he blacked out and did something really bad for them to all be staring at him in the hospital bed.

“Fuck me running,” he groaned, his head falling back against the pillow.

“Hotch?”

Opening his eyes, he glared at the pretty blonde staring at him in disbelief. “Don’t call me that,” he practically growled. “You ain’t my daddy and he’s the only one calls me that.”

“This is crazy,” the young, geeky looking man said. “That can’t really be Hotch, can it?”

“What the fuck I just say, Professor? Don’t call me that.”

“Just calm down, Aaron,” the older gangster looking guy said, his hands held out in front him, trying to look reassuring but Aaron knew better. Anyone trying to get him calm was only doing it to get something from him or trying to hurt him more.

“I will not calm down! Now I don’t know who you are or what you want but I do know that it is illegal for you to interrogate a minor without a parent or guardian present and since I am only just fourteen I think you should get the fuck out of my room until my mama or my father shows up.”

When none of them moved, he got a sinking feeling. Maybe that’s why he hurt. Maybe he’d finally gone and done it – had finally done the unthinkable.

“They’re not comin’, are they?” he whispered, his voice tight as he choked out the words. When the pretty blonde shook her head, he sat up straighter in the bed despite the pain it caused. “Well, good. I’m glad he’s dead. I been thinkin’ about it for years. He was a mean son of a bitch and he deserved it for all he did to me and my mama. I swear, if I didn’t do it, he was gonna kill us, said so himself a time or two. It was self-defense. He was a mean drunk and I hated him and…”

He tried to continue, ready to confess the awful thing he was sure he had done, but the gangster guy held up a hand again to stop him.

“Aaron. Quiet now. You didn’t kill your father.”

“Then…then where are they?”

The gangster sighed as he stepped forward. “This is going to sound crazy but I need you to hear me out on this, okay?”

Glaring at the older man, Aaron gave a tight nod despite the gasps of those around them.

“I’m David Rossi of the Behavioral Analysis Unit of the FBI. We were down here on a case and you were chasing an Unsub. There was a fight and you were submerged in what we think was the Fountain of Youth. The water de-aged you. In reality, you are Aaron Hotchner, Unit Chief of the BAU.”

Aaron stared at him for a moment before he broke out in laughter. The sound of it was harsh and loud in the small room. He laughed until tears were rolling down his cheeks.

“Very fuckin’ funny. Who put y’all up to this?”

“Aaron. This is no joke. It’s 2010. This is you.”

Aaron gasped as he looked at the little illuminated screen before him. It was too small to be a television but there before him was a picture of a man – an old man with his face.

“What...? How..?!”

“We don’t know yet,” the geeky guy said as he stepped forward. “But we will find out and we will fix this, Hotch. I promise.”

“Don’t call me that!” Aaron had trembling, frustrated with this – with all of this. It made no sense. He hated this, hated them, wanted them out. “Get out! Get out of my room!”

When they refused to leave, he screamed louder. “Where’s my mama!? I want my mama!”

His cries grew louder and more desperate as he realized his mama wasn’t coming. Finally the pretty blonde settled on the bed and pulled him into her arms, cradling his head on her shoulder as she began to croon to him, trying to calm him. Aaron clung to her, recognizing a mother, even if she wasn’t his own. He cried on her shoulder, calling for his mama, until he finally, blessedly, fell into a fitful sleep.

*************

Spencer stood and watched in silence as JJ did her best to calm an obviously distressed Hotch. He couldn’t imagine what it would have to be like to wake up and be back to the fourteen year old version of himself. It was readily apparent that his memories had been stripped away with his age and Spencer began to wonder if they would ever get their Hotch back again.

As he’d stood at the end of the bed looking at the boy who used to be his Unit Chief, Spencer couldn’t help but stare in disbelief. If he hadn’t seen it, hadn’t speculated about it in the first place, he never would have believed it. But they had pulled Hotch out of the spring and he’d watched in horror as the man began to de-age. Slowly, before their eyes, his skin evened out, pulled taut as his wrinkles fell away, becoming smooth and tanned. His hair grew darker as it lengthened, falling over his eyes and ears, nearly reaching his collar in the back. The clothes he wore began to bag around him as his hard-earned muscles seemed to melt away, leaving behind the gangliness of youth. It had taken hours for it to finally stop and Spencer had been thankful for that. He’d worried that it wasn’t going to stop. But this was still Hotch. The bowel shaking glare had proven that beyond a shadow of a doubt.

They had all been shocked by the language so casually tossed at them and the hostility rolling off the young man. Spencer could hardly reconcile the angry young man with the Unit Chief he’d come to admire. Not wanting to disturb the man…well, boy…now that he’d fallen asleep, Spencer headed toward the door, motioning for the rest of the team to follow.

Out in the hall, away from young ears, they all let out a collective sigh of frustration.

“What the hell, man?” Derek asked as he rubbed a hand over his head. “This is the craziest sci-fi bullshit I’ve ever seen.”

“I have to admit, it is a little outside the realm of probability but not possibility,” Spencer said, looking over Derek’s shoulder and through the window at the young man sleeping, still wrapped up in JJ’s arms.

“Well, I did not expect this. I figured baby Hotch would be a nerd. Didn’t he tell us all that once? Something about collecting coins as a kid.”

Dave snorted a laugh as he shook his head. “When he was younger, sure. But from some of the talks we’ve had, Aaron was no saint in his teen years. As a matter of fact, the point to where he is right now? It’s probably just before he got sent off to boarding school.”

This was so hard for Spencer to understand. “What did he do?”

“Got caught messing around with the help.” Dave explained.

“So? Kids his age experiment. Unless the help was significantly older…”

“The very male help,” Dave continued.

The looks of shock on all of their faces turned to laughter as they all realized how completely out their depths they were.

“But Hotch isn’t…”

“He identifies as bisexual, if you must know,” Dave explained patiently. “He doesn’t talk about it because, well, let’s just say the discovery wasn’t taken kindly.”

Spencer shook his head. It was something that he just couldn’t understand. When he had told his mom about his wanting to experiment, she’d been nothing but supportive, encouraging him to read and explore and try. Just knowing that Hotch’s parents had been less than supportive, had sent him away, called him names, or worse, hurt the young man’s heart.

“So how do we help?”

“We be there for him and try to help him remember who he is.”

“But what if he never does? What if he stays like this?”

“He won’t. We will find a way around this and this is what we are going to do.”  
Rossi immediately started assigning duties to the remaining profilers. Spencer was happy to go talk to the ME to see what they had discovered from the previous victims. He wanted to get as much information and get back as quickly as possible. He really wanted to watch Morgan and Rossi interrogate the Unsub but more than anything, he wanted to make sure he was there when Hotch woke up.

*************

Spencer sighed as he walked into the station house, shaking his head at Emily when her head shot up and she gave him a questioning look.

“Nothing?” she asked, her frustration plain on her face.

“Nothing,” he confirmed. “When I gave the ME all the facts, she had nothing at all to reference it to. She did confirm what we have all already postulated. The girls are all the missing women. Somehow, he targeted them and then de-aged them to the age he wanted them to be.”

“Needed,” Emily corrected.

Spencer shuddered at the tone.

“That bad?”

“Worse.” She stood and Spencer followed quickly as they made their way to the back of the station house and into the observation room. “Has he shut up yet?” she asked when Rossi turned her way.

“Not yet,” the eldest profiler replied sadly. “I was about to go in and give Morgan a break. I’m not sure how much more he can take.”

“What is he doing?” Spencer asked. They had all dealt with some horrifying Unsubs before. Knowing that this one was getting under everyone’s skins was a little frightening.

“Reliving each girl in terrifying detail,” Rossi said, rubbing his forehead in frustration. “In about thirty minutes, come in with some coffee or water for me Prentiss. I want to try out a theory.”

“Will do.”

The two profilers watched as Rossi entered the interrogation room and all conversation stopped. The Unsub smiled up at the newcomer.

“Well, well, well. Did Daddy come to relieve you?” the man said, his smile too wide, nearly shark-like, with blindingly white teeth and showing too much gum.

“No,” Rossi said with a sarcastic smile of his own. “Nothing like that. Just time to switch out the tape since you won’t shut up. We want to make sure we get every last word so that the DA can string you up in the highest tree.”

The man laughed hard at that, too hard, like he was listening to his own sick joke. “They won’t hang me. In fact, I’m going to get away with all of this. You know why? Because no one is going to believe you. No one in their right mind would believe this. I’m going to get off on an insanity plea. Doesn’t that just make your day?”

Spencer sighed as he took it all in. It was true. Who would believe this? If he hadn’t seen it with his own eyes, he doubted he would be able to believe it.

“Well, see, that’s where your theory breaks down, my friend,” Rossi smirked as he slid into the seat that Morgan had just vacated. “You see, we saw you in the water with the latest woman you kidnapped. She is ready to testify how and when you took her. We will match the van and method up with the four previous women you took. Plus we are going to prove that the four girls you left behind **are** those women. DNA evidence is very compelling for a jury. And we now have our Unit Chief as an example. Once we find the spring…”

“You’ll never find it!” the man shrieked, hands slamming down on the table. Despite his anger demeanor, his words sounded gleeful. “It won’t let you!”

“What do you mean?” Rossi asked calmly.

“The spring,” he answered, his face nearly blissful, “It calls to me. Only to me. I know where it is because I need it. My granny used to tell me the tale and when **she** left, I  
just couldn’t..couldn’t any more. It found me.”

“Who was it? Who left?”

The Unsub snorted. “Don’t know everything, do you? How is your man, anyway? I tried to hold him under good and long. You know, they longer they stay under, the younger they get.”

“Is that how it works? You held them under the water until they got to be the age you needed? So, what was it then? You kidnapped rich, smart successful women but that didn’t do it for you? You like them young so you found a way to take what you wanted and get them to where you could control them better, make them what you needed.”

“She left!” he screamed so loud that Spencer thought he could feel the vibration of it through the one-way mirror. “She left because she grew up, got smart, too smart for her own good. And then…and then…”

“And then what?” Rossi taunted. “She grew up and you weren’t attracted to her anymore? Couldn’t get it up when she was a woman? Is that why she left you?

“Fuck you!” he shouted, pulling taut on the shackles holding him to the table. “You don’t know! You can’t know!”

“That’s it, isn’t it? You couldn’t perform so she left you. You punished those girls because you couldn’t punish her.”

He fell back in the chair, laughing so hard that tears were streaming down his face. “Oh, I punished her. I punished her over and over and over again. Every time I make her young, it hurts her more and more and more. It’s…glorious.”

The door of the interrogation room opened and Emily slipped in, a small Styrofoam cup in her hand. She sat it next to Rossi’s elbow before leaning down to whisper in his ear,  
“Garcia’s got something.”

He nodded softly, taking in the way the Unsub continued to track every single move the female agent made.

“Sit tight for a minute. I’ll be back.”

“Bring her with you, would you? I appreciate the view.”

“Really?” Prentiss said, glaring down at him. “Didn’t think I was your type.”

His eyes raked over her and Spencer noted the shudder she was barely able to suppress. “Not yet.”

Rossi quickly ushered her out the door and into the observation room. Only once the door was securely shut did they both let out a harsh, hasty sigh.

“God, he’s disgusting!” Emily spat, keeping her back to the mirror.

“That’s not the worst of it,” Garcia said over the speakerphone in Derek’s hand. “Our Unsub in one Mark Richard Thompson. He’s sixty four years old.”

“What?!” several of them gasped. Looking at the man, he didn’t look like he could be a day over thirty five.

“I know, right? But according to everything that I have, that’s him. He must have taken a dip or two in the water if that’s any indication. The van was registered in his name and I’m  
sending you pictures now of him from the DMV from over the years.”

Emily pulled out her phone and quickly scrolled through the pictures. Sure enough, there were some pictures of their Unsub looking like he was now but the date on the license was from 1987. His most current picture showed the same man but aged.

“That’s him,” Morgan said, shaking his head.

“So who is the ‘she’ he keeps talking about, Penelope?” Rossi asked. “Please tell me you’ve got something we can use against this jagoff.”

They heard the sound of the clicking of keys until a soft gasp sounded over the speaker.

“What?” Emily asked, her eyes darting between the profilers surrounding her.

“When he was thirty five, he was awarded legal guardianship of his niece, Dakoa Wilson, when his sister and her husband were killed in a tragic plane crash.”

Everyone froze as Derek asked, “Let me guess. She was fourteen?”

“Got it in one.”

Rossi looked at the assembled group. “So now we know who she is, let’s find out where she is and what he’s been doing to her. Maybe she can give us some insight.”

“You think she’s still alive?” Prentiss asked.

“I do.”

“Well, fly then, my pretties. I’m sending you his home and former work addresses to your devices now.”

“What did he do for work, Garcia?” Spencer asked.

She sighed sadly. “Park Ranger for the National Forestry Service.”

Spencer just shook his head. “Of course.”

They debated for several moments over who was going to do what before Rossi made an executive decision. He decided to stay with the Unsub while the rest of the team went with local law enforcement and SWAT to each location. JJ was loathe to leave Hotch at the hospital but once they explained the situation, she reluctantly agreed. The young Unit Chief was still sleeping and according to the doctor, would most likely remain that way due to the stress and the amount of painkillers and sedatives he was currently receiving. She quickly met up with Spencer as they made their way to Thompson’s former work cabin while Prentiss and Morgan went to his listed home address.

JJ and Spencer were the ones to luck out, quickly finding the woman/girl at the small, well-hidden cabin just inside St. Augustine. SWAT had quickly stormed the small, two room cabin, clearing it and allowing the profilers to approach the girl laying frozen on the small mattress on the floor.

“Dakoa,” JJ whispered, trying to get the girl’s attention. When she got absolutely no response, Spencer tried another tactic by sticking her on the bottom of the foot with a sharp pen.

“No pain response. Zero eye pupillary reflex. I think she’s in some sort of comatose state,” Spencer offered before speaking into the microphone. “We need an ambulance at this location.”

JJ turned and looked around the room. There was nothing out of place, nothing to indicate that Thompson had been here recently but as she knelt down to look at the victim again, she noted something.

“Do you smell that?” she asked.

Spencer knelt down beside her. “Bleach.”

The blonde profiler turned and looked at one of their companions. “We need CSI in here and have them do a full sweep with Luminal. We think he may have wiped this place down clean.”

“Or she did,” Spencer said as he nodded at the frozen girl. She had her hands tucked into the front of her body, folding them in as if protecting them, but it wasn’t hard to see the dry, cracked skin of her knuckles or the red cracks all along her skin.

Spencer stepped out when the medics made their way toward the young girl on the floor, quickly calling the rest of the team. Once everyone was patched in, he informed them all,

“We found Dakoa and I think I know what he’s doing with them.”

*************

Aaron woke slowly, unsure of how much time had passed since he had been held in the pretty stranger’s arms. He didn’t know why, but he felt close to her. He trusted her, probably more than he trusted his own mother, even if he didn’t know her.

Despite the fact that he couldn’t remember her name, he felt deep down in his soul that he knew her, that somewhere, deep within him, he held the answer to who she was.

He blinked slowly, clearing some of the medication induced fuzziness from his brain when he realized there was a new doctor standing at the foot of his bed. She was a cute and young like the other girl had been. He wondered if everyone in his life was this attractive. Clearing his throat to catch her attention, Aaron smiled a brilliant, dimple popping smile at her. He knew quite well the power that smile contained and he hoped that it would help him get some answers.

The doctor smiled back as she closed the chart and hung it on the end of his bed.

“Well hello Agent Hotchner. I’m happy to see you’re awake.”

“Agent Hotchner?” he scoffed. “Just plain ol’ Aaron here. And who might you be? Please tell me I got lucky enough to have such a pretty thing such as yourself as my personal doctor.”

She laughed at that - not a giggle or a chuckle but a laugh. Aaron didn’t like to be laughed at.

“I was warned about you,” she said as she stepped over to the side of the bed to begin her physical examination of him. “I didn’t believe it when Dr. Reid called me and asked me to come down but now that I see it - wow. This is truly unreal.”

“Dr. Reid?” Aaron asked. “You mean the Professor who was in here before? Why did he call you?”

“I’ve worked with your team before, Aaron, or don’t you remember?”

Aaron looked at her for a long time, trying to place this nagging feeling inside of him. Now that she mentioned it, she did seem very familiar.

“What’s your name?”

“I’m Doctor Linda Kimura.”

Aaron’s brows came together as visions began to swing before his eyes. Bodies with blood dripping from their noses and eyes, people coughing up blood, Reid looking at him with pleading eyes, begging him for forgiveness and help.

“Anthrax,” Aaron whispered.

“Yes!” Dr. Kimura shouted in surprise. “I was helping you on a case where an Unsub was testing a new strain of anthrax.”

“Reid,” Aaron gasped as a unfamiliar fear, pain deep in his heart welled up. “He was contaminated. I thought...I thought he was going to die.” His chocolate eyes shot up to meet her questioning ones. “You saved him. You found the cure and you saved him.”

“Yes,” she said, gently resting a hand on his shoulder to comfort him. There was a box of tissue held in front of him and Aaron realized he was crying. “I think you are going to be alright, Aaron. I found a cure for Spencer and we’ll find one for you too.”

Aaron quickly wiped his face and blew his nose before leaning into the doctor’s gentle embrace. He could get used to this.

*************

The team had all assembled at the station house when Spencer and JJ gave them the update on what they had found at the cabin. They’d had Dakoa transported to the same hospital Hotch was at so that if anything came up, they would all be at the same place.

“So what was he doing?” Prentiss asked Reid.

“He mentioned he’d done this to her over and over again. I think maybe this is reversible, that it’s not a permanent change. He’s obviously either dipped in and drank the water from how old he looks. Maybe by forcing them under the water, them having the water in their lungs instead of their stomachs, that triggers the memory loss. I’m theorizing right now that the trauma of having that done multiple times is what sent Dakoa into her coma.”

“That and the fact that it appears that he raped and tortured the girls in the same room he’d kept her in,” JJ added. “There is even indications that he forced her to clean up after him. She has dried and cracked knuckles, like she’d held them in bleach for long periods of time.”

“That’s awful,” Prentiss gasped.

“So now what?” Morgan asked.

Rossi turned to head back to the interrogation room. “Now we end this.”

They all began to head that way when Spencer’s phone rang.

“Dr. Reid,” he answered. Everyone stopped while he took the call. Once he hung up, he turned and smiled at them. “Hotch is awake and he’s regaining some of his memories.”

“Really?’ JJ gasped as they all smiled at him. “Who was that?”

“Dr. Kimura. I’ve been in contact with her since the anthrax case. I figured if anyone could deal with a crazy BAU case, it would be her. She said Dakoa had just been admitted and she’s going to go examine her now.”

“Good,” Rossi said with a nod. “I’m glad to know Hotch is in good hands but right now, I’m just about ready to nail this jagoff to the wall. Anyone coming with me?”

Without another word, the entire team followed him to the back of the station house to make sure Mark Thompson would never again see the light of day.

Rossi stepped in the room followed by Prentiss. She stood tall by the door, staring down at the man shifting in his chair uncomfortably.

“Christ, it’s about time you got back!” Thompson yelled as soon as they entered the room. “Been waiting to piss for an hour now. Guard said you hadn’t authorized my getting up  
or anything yet but I gotta go.”

“Guess that means you’re going to piss yourself then because you not going anywhere until you tell us everything about that spring and what it does,” Rossi said with a smile.

“Fine,” Thompson smirked as he leaned back. “If I piss myself, guess that means you’ll just have to clean me up, right Pretty Thing.”

Prentiss laughed as she leaned forward. “Not a chance. You’ll have to do it this time because Dakoa’s not here to do it for you.”

Thompson’s eyes grew wide for a moment. “Is that all you’ve got? She won’t tell you nothing.”

“Because she can’t or because she won’t?” Rossi asked.

Thompson leveled an evil smirk at him. “Can’t. Not anymore. She used to be able to talk - used to scream and say the most awful things. But the last time…” he shook his head, “I think it broke her, you know. It hurts - a lot, even for me and I just drink it. Not as dramatic when you drink rather than dunk but still effective. I never lost my memories but them...they always did.”

“How many times did you take her there?” Rossi asked.

“Enough,” he sighed with a smile. “Enough that she stopped growing old again at all. It was quite the surprise when she stayed just like she had been but it wasn’t fun anymore, not when she can’t scream.”

“Is that what happened?” Prentiss asked as she approached the table. “You took her to the spring so many times that you permanently damaged her and you couldn’t get off anymore so you started taking others, making her watch while you did to them what you’d done to her for so long?”

He only smiled back.

“How long does it last?” Rossi asked.

Thompson turned mirth-filled eyes back to him. “Worried about your boy, are you?”

Rossi nodded.

“I don’t rightly know. Weeks maybe months. I hardly noticed with Dakoa at first. Took a while before I realized she didn’t look right anymore. Didn’t bother to keep the new ones  
alive long enough to notice.”

“But it can be reversed?” Emily pressed.

Thompson only shrugged.

“Fine,” Rossi said he stood, gathering up all the pictures and files before turning toward Prentiss. “I think we’ve got all we need. We’ll let the locals finish up with the confession.

They’ve got enough to convict him even without the DNA evidence from the newest victim. Let’s go figure out how to fix Hotch.

“He won’t be the same, your man,” Thompson called out as they moved toward the door. “He’ll never be the same now.”

“Yeah, and neither will you,” Prentiss tossed out as she slipped out the door.

“Hey! What about me! I still gotta take a leak!”

“Knock yourself out,” Rossi said with a smirk as he shut the door behind himself. The team could hear him shouting through the one way. “Tell the detectives to give him about thirty minutes. If he hasn’t pissed himself by then, I’m sure he’ll much more willing to cooperate. If he has, oh well.”  
Morgan chuckled as he moved away to pass on the message to the LEOs before team moved as one toward the room they had called home for the past few days. They loaded up all the evidence, leaving what was necessary for the case before packing everything they needed away.

Once they were done, Spencer looked at Rossi. “Time to go see Hotch?”

The elder profiler nodded as they made their way as one to the SUVs, on their way to see their wounded leader.

************

Aaron sat on the bed, amazed as he flipped through the channels on the television. There were so many and the remote was brilliant. He’d confirmed quite quickly that it was indeed 2010 and just the idea blew his mind. Aaron had always figured he’d be dead by now, what with his appetite for danger and questionable fun. The doctor - Kimura, he reminded himself - had come in and told him that his team had solved the case and were on there way to the hospital.

He’d sat for a long time trying to remember them. There was a basic feeling of remembrance, like they were known to him but he couldn’t grab ahold of the memories, almost as if they were a dream.

Aaron had considered that - that this was all a crazy dream - but a harsh pinch to the inside of his arm verified that this was very real. Then he wondered if he was going insane. It wasn’t the first time he’d wondered about that. Several times he’d woke up after a harsh beating only to have his mother kissing and doting on him like he was treasured and hearing his father tell the authorities about how frightened he was that his precious boy had been injured. Those words always made him question his own sanity because when there was no one else around, all he heard was the opposite. He was honestly surprised they were even physically able to say such things when it came to the oldest boy.

Now Sean, he could imagine them saying it about Sean. Aaron never understood what he’d done to earn such ire from his parents. He only ever did what they’d asked and yet nothing he did was right, was never enough. But Sean’s very existence was enough for them and he hated him for it.

There was a soft knock at his door and Aaron looked up just in time to see the smiling face of the Professor peeking through the door.

“Hi Aaron, mind if we come in?” the man asked.

“Nah,” he said, painting a smile on his face. “Come on in.”

Spencer opened the door all the way and the rest of the team began to file in. Aaron did his best to calm his pounding heart as the room filled up with unknown, intimidating adults.

“I understand y’all caught the bad guy?”

“Unsub,” Rossi said, smiling lightly as he moved closer. “And yes, he is going to be put away for a long time thanks to you.”

“Me?” Aaron asked. “What the fuck did I do?”

Several people gasped, still unable to reconcile this cursing teen with their Unit Chief.

“You jumped in the water and rescued the woman he was trying to drown. You’re a hero, Aaron. Don’t you remember?”

Aaron looked up at Spencer who was smiling down at him. He shook his head sadly. “I don’t. Sometimes I think I remember things but it’s kinda like a dream. As soon as I think I got it, it fades away.”

“It’s okay,” JJ said as she settled on the side of the bed, gathering his hand in hers. “It’ll come back to you. Thompson said they all got their memories back eventually.”

Aaron just nodded even though he didn’t really understand what was happening.

Just then, the door opened again and Dr. Kimura stepped in. “I didn’t know you were all here.”

“We just got here,” Spencer said with a smile.

“Can we talk outside?”

“No!” Aaron shouted as the team began to follow the doctor out into the hallway. “If y’all are gonna talk about me, you’re gonna have to do it in here. I’m the team leader and I get to hear just like all y’all.”

“Aaron…” Dr. Kimura started before Aaron interrupted.

“That’s Agent Hotchner, ma’am, and I ain’t gonna let you leave me out of this.”

Everyone was shocked at the change in the boy. If they hadn’t known better, they would swear that Aaron was nearly back to himself, but despite the force of the words, they  
could hear the fear and uncertainty lying beneath the surface.

“Alright,” Dr. Kimura said as she slipped back inside and closed the door behind her. “I examined the victim and she has suffered years of physical abuse and torture. He was not kind to her in any way. It appears that she is in a permanent comatose state from being repeatedly dipped in the stream and de-aged. She has scarring in her throat and has irreparable brain damage from the lack of oxygen from being submerged for so long. However, the aging doesn’t appear to be irreversible.”

“So...you can fix me?”

Dr. Kimura smiled at him kindly.

“I believe so but I’ll need a sample of the water you were submerged in.”

Spencer turned to look at the team. “We need to find that stream.”

*************

Unfortunately for them, when they returned to the coordinates that Garcia had originally sent them to, there was nothing there.

“You’re sure this is it, Baby Girl?” Morgan asked into the speaker phone.

“Absolutely,” she answered quickly, her voice high and strained. “You are in exactly the same spot that pinged Tara’s phone. It’s not there?”

Prentiss and Morgan turned around in circles, looking at dry, parched land as far as they could see.

“No. There’s nothing here.”

“Then what are we going to do to get the Boss Man back?”

“I don’t know, Baby Girl. I don’t know.”

************

Rossi stood outside the cell, glaring down at Thompson who was sprawled out on his tiny cot.

“Brought me a blonde this time. Very nice.”

The elder profiler ignored him and asked, “How do we find it?”

Thompson just starting laughing as he stood to walk over to the profilers. “You won’t. It called to me and now it’s quiet. It only calls to those who really need it and then it’s gone. Trying to fix your man?”

Thompson had stepped close enough to the bars that he was within arms reach. Before he know what was happening, JJ reached through the bars and gripped the front of his jumpsuit tight and jerked him forward. His head bounced off the bars with a resounding “bong” as he shouted, “What the fuck?!”

“Tell me how we find it or I make sure all your cellmates know that you’re not only a child molester and murderer but that you raped your own flesh and blood,” she growled in face.

“Hey!” he shouted at Rossi. “Call her off, would ya!”

“Oh, I don’t think so. You awoke the mama bear in her. You deal with it.”

“I’m telling the truth!” he shouted, spittle flying from his lips as he trembled in fear. “I don’t know how it works. It just happened. Go to the woods and listen. If it wants to be found, it’ll call to you.”

JJ stared at him for several long minutes before she finally pushed him away, causing him to trip over his feet and land in a heap on the floor at the foot of his cot.

“Fine,” she growled as she started to walk down the hallway. “I hope you sleep well, Thompson. Must be tough on the conscious knowing that you not only raped your own niece but four other teenage girls.”

Rossi stood watching as they heard a murmuring coming from the other cells. He winked at the prone man. “I’d sleep with one eye open if I were you. And I tried to warn you - don’t mess with the mama bear.”

************

Aaron sat in the bed and listened as the Professor and the Doctor talked about him. It wasn’t anything he wasn’t used to at this point. Adults always talked about him, over him, like he wasn’t even there. Children were to seen and not heard and even when he had something to say, he didn’t dare interrupt. That just got you more trouble than it was worth.

So he listened quietly.

He was surprised at how much he actually understood. The idea that Dr. Kimura might be able to reverse the aging if she had a proper sample of the water, much like she had with the anthrax, even though they had a cure already made that time. But synthesizing the compound that changed him should be possible, especially since he was already starting to re-age, if what the Unsub had told them was the truth.

Suddenly, his bladder makes itself known and Aaron quietly raised his hand. It took a moment for either of the adults to notice but finally Spencer asked, “Did you need something, Aaron?”

“I need to use the restroom, please.”

Spencer looked at him funny and Aaron wondered what he did wrong until he finally smiled and said warmly, “You don’t have to raise your hand. If you need to go, feel free, okay?”

“Didn’t want to interrupt,” Aaron snapped back, feeling a little bit surly for being treated like a baby. He didn’t want their pity or their sympathy. He just wanted to pee. He slipped inside the bathroom and was a little upset to see there was no lock on the inside. Bathrooms were always his safe rooms because he could always locked himself in if he needed to. He supposed he could always brace the door if it came down to it.

Aaron quickly stood before the toilet and quickly relieved himself. It felt good to be back on his feet and out of the stupid hospital bed. Before he let the gown fall back down in front of his body, he ran his hand across his belly, surprised at the puckered skin beneath fingertips.

He stepped before the mirror and took in his visage. It was just as he remembered - too long hair, just to piss off his father, dark eyes, tanned skin. Nothing out of the ordinary. He slowly moved the gown out of the way and gasped at the sight before him. Scars all over his chest and abdomen stood out, most white and puckered from where skin had been parted and sewn together, some small, most large and ugly.

Suddenly, the flash of a face, the growl of a voice he would never forget.

_Wanna see my scars? Yours are going to look just like it.”_

Aaron gasped in pain, almost like he could feel the knife sliding into his skin.

_You should have taken the deal._

That face - so close to his own - that smirk, those eyes. They bore deep into his soul, filling him with their darkness.

_Promise me that you will tell him how we met, and how you used to make me laugh._

“Haley…” he gasped aloud as tears began to pour down his cheeks.

_He needs to know that you weren’t always so serious, Aaron. I want him to believe in love, because it...it is the most important thing but you need to show him. Promise me._

“I promise.”

Then there was a gunshot and Aaron screamed, “Haley!!” as he tried to fight off the hands holding him down.

*************

Spencer stayed back at the hospital to talk with Dr. Kimura and Aaron in the hopes that the Unit Chief would be able to remember him or something else about his life. Spencer and the doctor had been talking when Aaron raised his hand to say that he needed to use the bathroom. They showed him the small room and Spencer couldn’t help but worry about the young Unit Chief. He looked almost scared to ask to go pee. Once they were alone they began to discuss the likelihood that they would be able to help get Aaron back to his normal self.

“If I can isolate the element or microbe that is causing the process to happen, I should be able to create a solution to reverse the process, or at least that’s the hope. We just need  
a decent sample.”

Spencer smiled. “I would love to help in any way possible. Do you think a blood sample would be beneficial?”

“Most likely. Do you think Agent Hotchner would submit to a sample?”

“We should be able to talk him into it. He seems a little volatile right now but…”

Spencer froze as he heard a distressed sound coming from the bathroom. He stepped closer and pressed his ear to the door.

“Aaron?” he called. There was no response until he heard a soft “I promise.” Then Aaron was screaming, crying out like a animal in pain, frightened and unable to stop the sounds pouring from his throat. He burst through the door and found Aaron standing before the mirror staring at his own scars. He wondered what torturous memory he was locked inside until he realized that he was calling out for his dead wife.

Spencer grabbed him around his middle, pinning Aaron’s arms to his chest and holding him tight, calling his name over and over, trying to break through the awful memories taking over his mind. Finally, Dr. Kimura came in with a nurse in tow. A needle found its way home in Aaron’s arm until finally the boy collapsed in Spencer’s arms, his wife’s name still on his lips.

***********

“What was that?” Dr. Kimura asked as she watched Spencer deftly lift the sleeping boy in his arms, walking toward the empty bed. Once he was sure Aaron was safe and secure in the bed, Spencer turned around to face the curious doctor.

“Aaron’s wife Haley was murdered a few months ago. He was on the phone with her when it happened. He heard the whole thing.”

“Oh god.”

“Yeah. And I think Aaron just remembered it. He was holding up his gown so most likely he was looking at his scars. Maybe it sparked the memory of…”

“Scars?”

Spencer sighed. He hated having to betray Aaron’s confidence but if it helped them bring him back then he would do what he had to. “Aaron was stabbed multiple times by the same Unsub that killed his wife.”

Dr. Kimura stood silent, her mouth open in shock. “And he’s reliving that now as a fourteen year old boy?”

Spencer nodded softly.

“Apparently he is in there somewhere.”

Dr. Kimura nodded. “He remembered me, in a way. When I first got here and introduced myself, he had a spark of a memory, like he knew who I was. He told me that it was about anthrax but I never mentioned that was the case we met on.”

“So he is still there.”

“I believe he is and I believe we can get him back.”

Spencer couldn’t help the brilliant smile that crossed his features. Now if they could just find a way for Aaron to regain his memories without going insane from the pain of his past.

Once the rest of the team had assembled, they discussed the possibilities.

“So there’s no way to find the stream?” Spencer asked.

“Not that we can find,” Morgan said sadly. “It’s just not there.”

“And Thompson only said it ‘called to him’,” Rossi said sadly. “I don’t think we are going to be able to find it.”

“I’ll need some kind of sample to be able to make a cure for this.”

Spencer stood up straight, an answer quickly coming to mind. “Where are Aaron’s clothes?”

“What?” JJ asked.

“Aaron’s clothes. The ones he was wearing when he was brought in. They were dripping, remember? He’d been submerged in the stream multiple times. If they are still wet, we might be able to get a sample.”

The team furiously began and search the room for the bag that should hold the key to helping Aaron. Finally, Emily darted from the room before returning with a nurse in tow. He quickly pulled out a large plastic bag from behind the bathroom door. Dr. Kimura took it and looked inside. When she smiled, Spencer let himself sigh in relief.

“It’s not much, but I think I can work with this.”

“But then what will Hotch wear?” JJ asked.

“He couldn’t fit in that suit even if he tried,” Rossi said quietly. “I doubt he’ll fit in any of the clothes in his go-bag either. I guess you girls are going to be going on a shopping trip.”

“Why do they get to go?” Morgan complained. “You think Pretty Boy and I don’t have style?”

Rossi chuckled as he held out his credit card for Emily to take. “Aaron is now a moody, gangly teenage boy. Are you really willing to go and try to find something he’d wear and not complain about...endlessly...and loudly?”

Derek looked over Spencer, taking in the younger man’s crooked tie and bright purple Chuck Taylor’s. “Okay. Have fun, girls.”

“Oh, we will!” Emily said with a smile as she snagged the card from between Rossi’s fingertips.

*************

The team stood in the hospital room, waiting for Aaron to come out of the bathroom with his new clothes on. The admitting doctor had agreed to release him into their custody as long as Dr. Kimura was with them. She had readily agreed.

“Come on, Aaron,” Rossi called through the door. “The plane is waiting for us. Don’t you want to go home?”

“These clothes are weird,” the voice called back through the closed door.

“I’m sure they’re fine. Now hurry up, please.”

The door cracked open and the boy stepped out, pulling on the pants tight around his waist. “These are too tight and the drawers feel wrong.”

“They’re called boxer briefs,” Emily explained. “You’ll get used to them.”

Aaron scowled as he pulled at the edges of the boxer briefs through the brand new, crisp looking denim. Spencer smiled as he looked the boy over. JJ and Emily did a good job picking out clothing for him. Jeans, t-shirts covered with button-up shirts and comfortable looking running shoes. It looked almost like Aaron did when he was home with Spencer and Jack, working on science projects or just staying in on a weekend off. It made Spencer’s heart hurt a little bit, missing the man he was starting to have feelings for.

“What?!” Aaron snapped, scowling at Spencer. The young genius shook himself, suddenly realizing that he had been staring at the transformed Unit Chief.

“Nothing,” Spencer deflected as he quickly turned away. He caught a glimpse of a smirk on Aaron’s lips. He avoided eye contact with the obviously pleased teen all the way to the jet. Once they were all on board, they assembled quickly into their favored seats but Aaron just stood, staring around the small cabin.

“You alright, Aaron?” Rossi asked, concern coloring his voice.

“Y’all own a jet?”

Several of them chuckled, holding back a small bit of laughter. “It belongs to the FBI but we use it to get to cases quickly,” Dave explained.

“Guess I didn’t do too bad, did I?”

“Nope. You didn’t.” Dave quickly directed the young boy to the small couch near the back. “Why don’t a rest a little while we try to figure out what to do when we get back home.”

“Home? Who’s home?”

Rossi smiled as the young boy settled on the couch, a pensive look crossing his features. “That’s what we’re going to figure out.”

Aaron settled on the soft surface, determined to stay awake. If they were going to be deciding his future, he wanted to be a part of it, but before he knew it, his eyes felt heavy and he found himself nodding off.

Spencer smiled as he watched the Unit Chief drift away as sleep pulled him under. Once they were sure he was out, Spencer asked, “So what are we going to do with him?”

“He can come home with me,” JJ offered. When the team turned and looked at her, she smiled. “What? He seems to have bonded with me. I can help keep him calm when he starts to freak out.”

“But what about Will?” Emily asked.

“You may have a boy at home but it’s completely different having a teenager at home, especially with a toddler,” Rossi reasoned. “He could come with me. I have the room and  
Aaron has been there before.”

“But not always under the best of circumstances,” Morgan pointed out. “Most of the time he was there was when he was too drunk to go home to Jack or after Foyet’s attacks. Do we really need him reliving those memories any sooner than what happens naturally?” When the rest of the team was silent, he pushed forward. “He could come stay with me.”

Spencer snorted a laugh at that.

“What?” Morgan asked.

“That’s just what we need. You teaching young Aaron how to be cool and make it in the world now? He’ll be walking around calling everyone ‘Baby Girl’ in that accent. Nothing would ever get done because he’d had people falling all over themselves and that’s the last thing we need. Teenage hormones with some adult memories in that package? Sorry, Morgan. He’ll be better off with me.”

“You?! What are you going to do? Show him every episode of Doctor Who and Star Trek in the hopes that you’ll turn him into a little mini nerd like you?”

“I’ve spent more time with him than any of you ever since Foyet’s attack. I think I know better than you...”

“You know better how to take care of fourteen year old kid who…”

“Maybe I do especially when…”

“Morgan! Reid!” They heard shouted sleepily from the couch. “Both of you stop. I’ll go with Reid. I’ve been at his place and besides, I’m allergic to dogs so I’m sure Clooney would set me off. Now y’all keep it down so I can sleep, will ya.”

Once they realized that Hotch had fallen back asleep, they all stared at each other with wide eyes until Emily was the first to break. She began to giggle, her mouth hidden behind her hand. Soon JJ joined her before Rossi chuckled softly. Eventually, they all were working hard to suppress their laughter, hoping not to wake up the volatile teen. Spencer shook his head. Hotch was in there, hiding just beneath the surface. Knowing he was going to be rooming with him until they could find a cure was a daunting thought but Spencer knew he needed do this for Hotch.

They made it back to the airport and Hotch was just waking as they landed. As he woke, he sat up and rubbed at his eyes, his hair tousled and unkept falling over his forehead, making him look even younger than the fourteen years he appeared to be already.

Morgan leaned over and whispered in Spencer’s ear. “Oh yeah. Do we wanna put money on how soon we have to worry about Hotch coming in wearing unmatching socks and purple scarves.”

“Shut up, Morgan,” Aaron grumbled as he stood, folding up the blanket JJ had tossed over his legs. He turned and smiled at the group staring at him.

“How are you feeling, Aaron?” Dr. Kimura asked.

“Not half bad actually,” he replied with a smile. “Kinda nice to wake up and not have been drugged up for one reason or another.”

“We’re sorry, Aaron,” Spencer said as he stood, reaching out to comfort the boy. “It’s just that…”

“No need to apologize, Reid. I understand. Things have been difficult and y’all have to make the right decision despite what I may or may not like at the time.”

Spencer froze. “You’ve called me Reid twice now. Are you…? Do you think you’re remembering more?”

Aaron stopped and thought, his head tilting slightly to the side. Spencer fought to keep the smile from his face at the adorable look. “Yeah. I’m thinking maybe I am.” The smile on his face was blinding and Spencer suddenly began to wonder at the wisdom of bringing Aaron into his home. He’d always liked Hotch, even when the man was married when he first joined the team. Back then, Hotch had smiled more, had a lightness and sharp, dry wit about him that Spencer admired. As life had crashed in around him, the only time

Spencer saw that spark was when he was at the Hotchner’s apartment with Jack around. But now, this younger version of his friend seemed to be that man before so much tragedy.

“That’s very good, Aaron,” Rossi said, stepping up to him. “Do you think you’re going to be up to talking with Strauss and the AD?”

Aaron made a face. Obviously some part of him remembered the animosity he had with his direct supervisor. Slowly he shook his head. “Don’t have much of a choice now, do I?”

Several people shook their heads in confirmation. They’d already decided as a team to go into the meeting all together to support Aaron. The last thing they needed was for the Section Chief to upset the teen. That could end up being disastrous for them all.

In the end, the meeting went much better than any of them had imagined. Aaron was well behaved and polite. Erin had not scoffed at the notion that this boy was Aaron Hotchner, Unit Chief of the BAU. The AD had even wholeheartedly agreed when they discussed their plans for housing Aaron until a cure could be found. Spencer was a little sceptical until they got back to the sixth floor when Penelope came charging at them as soon as the elevator doors opened.

“There is my lovely band of merry men, back from the land of the crazy with a baby Hotch in tow. Look at you! You are just too cute for words. Ten years from now, if this is how Jack looks, you’d better lock him up because all the girls and probably some of the boys will be banging down your door.”

“Penelope…” Rossi started.

“I pre-prepped Strauss and the AD with the pictures and reports that the good doctor, Kimura not Reid - sorry baby genius, sent my way. And they didn’t want to believe it was you but who wouldn’t believe it once they saw you.”

“Penelope…” he tried again, a little more forcefully this time.

“Wait until Jack sees you. Oh my god! How are we going to explain this to Jack! He’s just a baby himself and now his dad is more like his brother and not his dad, you know, if his dad was like ten years older, but that’s kinda like what happened with you and Sean right? You were so much older and…”

“Penelope!”

The Technical Analyst froze, her eyes wide at being yelled at. Rossi softened his tone and said, “We are all working really hard not to overwhelm Aaron right now. He’s been through a lot and still doesn’t have all of his memories back.”

“Right,” she whispered, as if talking softer would make everything better. “I didn’t even think about that. Sorry Hotch.”

Spencer waited for the teen to lash out her like he had to anyone else who had called him Hotch but it never came. Instead, Aaron just looked shocked. Finally he whispered, “Jack?”

It was hard to tell what Aaron was thinking. His face looked pained and his shoulders were rolled forward, as if he was trying to collapse in on himself.  
“Aaron?” Rossi asked.

“Jack.” He said again, softer than before, looking up into compassionate blue eyes. “Jack is my son.”

“Yeah,” Garcia answered as she held her arms out. Before anyone knew what was happening, the boy launched himself into her arms and he let himself be comforted by her as he fought to come to terms with the newest memories. Slowly, she made her way up to the Unit Chief’s office, settling him down and talking him through some of his memories while showing off pictures of him and his child as well as some of the beautiful drawings Jack had on display in his father’s office. When Spencer left, Aaron was smiling at the tales  
Garcia was sharing.

“Will he be okay?” Spencer asked Rossi as they made their way down into the bullpen.

“Yeah. He’s tough, always has been. Some of the stories he shared with me aren’t the best and I have a feeling he watered some of them down for me. Maybe getting a chance to be young again will be good for him. It’ll be safer this time. He’ll get a chance to grow up surrounded by people who won’t hurt him.”

Spencer nodded. He hoped that was true.

Dr. Kimura came down after her conference with Strauss and the AD. She told Spencer to call her if there were any major concerns or changes in Aaron’s behavior or condition. He readily agreed to asked her to keep him notified of any developments with the cure. They all quickly sat out to get their reports finished so they could go home. Spencer had just finished his report and was getting ready to go up and collect his charge to head home when he received a text message. Quickly checking the number, he was surprised to see that it was Jessica.

Slipping out of the bullpen and into an empty office, Spencer quickly called the number back.

“Spencer!” the eldest Brooks sister said as soon as she answered the phone. “What is going on? David just called me and asked if I could take Jack indefinitely but he refused to say why. I asked if Aaron was hurt or dead and he said no but he won’t even let me talk to him. What do I say to Jack? How will he..?”

“Jessica,” Spencer interrupted as the woman began to sound hysterical. “I promise you. Hotch is okay. There was a problem with the case but I’m sure we will be able to get everything back to normal. We just honestly have no idea when that will be.”

“What happened?”

Spencer paused for a moment, wondering just how much to say. Finally, he settled on telling her a partial truth. “He was injured by the Unsub when he dove into some water to save a woman. It was really amazing. He’s okay but now is not the time for him to see Jack. When I think he’s okay, I’ll let you know.”

“Can we call or video call? I’m really worried.”

Spencer sighed. “Not right now. Give me a day or two to make sure Aaron will be alright and then I’ll see what I can do.”

The silence on the other side of the line told Spencer that Jessica was thinking. She wasn’t dumb and he knew she would piece together how wrong things were eventually but he knew she’d never guess it was something like this. No one would guess something like this.

“Okay, Spencer. I’ll trust you - for now. But if I don’t hear anything in a couple of days, I **will** hunt you down. Don’t think I won’t.”

He couldn’t help the chuckle that escaped from his lips despite himself. “I promise I’ll get back to you in the next day or two. And Jessica, thanks again.”

The smile her heard in her voice let him know he’d made the right choice. “Of course, Spencer. Jack is a great kid and I really don’t mind. But he’s smart like his dad and he’s going to start asking questions.”

“I know. But we will clear this up. Promise.”

“Okay. Thank you, Spencer.”

Spencer quickly ended the call and went back to his desk. He needed to finish up quickly and get Aaron home. He worried the longer he was here, the more he’d remember and right now, Aaron needed things to go slower than they had over the past twenty-four hours. The last thing they needed was to overwhelm the young man.

Spencer left the empty office and quickly made his way to his desk in a desperate attempt to complete his report. He worried that his brain would work faster than his fingers and he stumbled a few times, backing up obsessively in an attempt to make his report sound somewhat coherent. Finally satisfied that he was done, he sent the report off and quickly shut down his computer before making his way up to Hotch’s office. Throwing open the door, he was surprised to see Aaron behind his desk with Garcia sitting on the corner as

Aaron moved the mouse around, easily navigating the web.

“Garcia!” he shouted, forcing both the boy’s and Technical Analyst’s heads to shoot up in alarm. If he wasn’t so angry, it would have been almost comical. “What are you doing?”

“Well?” she stammered out in explanation. “He asked about some events and I was trying explain it but then I thought I would just show him and he was so good at it, I let him take over and…”

“And he talked you into it, didn’t he?” When she nodded slowly, Spencer dropped his head into his hand. “Garcia, he’s a teenager. He’s going to use that charm and accent and perfect dimples to get what he wants but this much information may be too much for Aaron to handle right now. We don’t know when his memories are going to hit and how he’s going to deal with them. We haven’t had the best luck so far.”

“I am sitting right here, you know,” Aaron drawled, obviously just as upset as Spencer was.

“I do and now we are going home.”

“You mean your place or mine?”

The way Aaron said it, all soft and slow with the Southern accent made the genius shudder. It was a good thing Aaron didn’t understand the power he could wield over him.

“Mine.”

“When do I get to see Jack?” he asked, surprising Spencer into silence for a moment.

“Do you remember him?”

Aaron sat frozen for a moment, a look of contemplation on his face. “Maybe. There’s something there. When Penny mentioned him, I felt warm, like when I first saw Sean but  
then...no, I don’t really remember.”

“Well, we will wait until you do then. It’s going to be hard enough for him to understand without you knowing who he is, okay?”

Aaron nodded, his too long hair falling in front of eyes, much like Spencer’s own would do on occasion.

“Now that that is settled, let’s go. It’s been a long few days and I am so ready to go home.” As Spencer began to usher the young boy out of the office, he turned back and smiled at Garcia. “Explain to the rest of the team that I’ll plan on being in tomorrow, barring any extreme circumstances happening tonight.”

“You got it, Baby Genius. Take care of the Boss Man...I guess it’s Boss Boy now. OH! Can I call him Boss Baby?”

Aaron turned back and gave her a dangerous looking smile. “Only if ya’ wanna wake up dead.”

“Aaron!” Spencer scolded. “We do not threaten friends.”

“Fine,” the boy grumbled as he quickly left, leaving a shocked Technical Analyst in his wake. Spencer couldn’t help but chuckle as he followed the boy down the stairs.

Once they made it to the parking lot, Spencer was surprised to see Aaron heading directly for his black SUV hybrid. When the boy reached for driver’s side door handle, Spencer stopped him with a gentle grip of the wrist. “Aaron?” he asked.

Deep brown eyes turned toward him, shocked and confused. “This is my car.”

“Yeah.”

Aaron shook his head slowly, as if clearing it from a haze. “This is going to take some getting used to.”

Spencer smiled as he placed a gentle hand in the small of Aaron’s back, directing him toward the passenger’s seat. He turned to looked at Spencer once the genius settled into the driver’s seat.

“I let you drive my car?”

Spencer couldn’t help the laughter that bubbled up at that. This was definitely still Aaron.

“Yes, believe it or not, I do occasionally drive your car. I’m not a bad driver, I just usually prefer to let someone else drive. It makes it easier for me to continue doing research or work out theories. When I’m driving, I like to keep my mind on the road and that’s not easy when I’m thinking about too many things.”

Aaron shrugged. “Makes sense I guess.” He was quiet for a moment, letting Spencer drive them off the base. Finally, he said, “So you and I..?”

Spencer startled for a moment, turning his head multiple times, trying to look at Aaron and the road at the same time. “You and I what?” he asked.

“We dating?”

“What?!” Spencer shouted as he nearly swerved into oncoming traffic. “Why? What?! Why would you think that?”

Aaron laughed, a wicked smirk on his face. “You drive my car. You help with Jack. I’ve seen you look at me a couple of times, like you’re trying to figure out if the old me is still in here. Besides, there have been a couple of times I’ve looked at you and I’ve felt...something.”

Spencer would have never believed that the word ‘something’ could ever sound so dirty but flowing from between Aaron’s lips with that accent and those eyes it sounded downright filthy.

“No,” Spencer stated firmly. “No we are not dating.”

“But you want to.”

“What?! No, I just...no. No.”

“I do believe the genius doth protest too much.”

Spencer turned to glare at the cocky boy and was surprised to note that Aaron was now sprawled across the passenger’s seat, legs spread and left hand hovering a bit too close to his crotch. Turning back to the road, Spencer sighed, trying to force the image away, sure that his face was bright red.

“Bless your heart but aren’t you adorable,” Aaron practically laughed.

Spencer ignored him for the rest of the ride back to his apartment.

Once they had pulled up front, Spencer started pulling out his go-bag as well as the bags that contained the clothes the girls had bought for Aaron. Without a word, Aaron headed toward the building, not waiting for his companion to catch up. Spencer was nearly out of breath when he stopped in front of his door, not at all surprised to see Aaron leaning  
against the door jam.

“Is this ever going to stop getting weird?” Aaron asked.

“Which _this_ are you referring too?”

“This whole having memories that don’t feel like mine thing. It’s almost like it’s a different person in my head and he knew what apartment was yours and without me ever thinking about it, my feet just led me here. Not sure I like it much.”

As Spencer opened the door, he figured he wouldn’t like it much either. Unlocking the door, Spencer let Aaron step inside, wondering how the young man would react to now being in his home. Aaron stepped inside and quickly made his way around the apartment. Spencer followed behind him, placing the bags down by the door and giving the boy his space. Aaron walked around, touching various objects as he passed them. He walked directly into the kitchen and smiled as he looked up at the ceiling. Spencer smiled when he noticed Aaron was staring at the small brown scorch mark directly above the kitchen table.

“You still haven’t cleaned that up,” Aaron said with a small chuckle.

Spencer smiled back. “No. I thought about climbing on the table to clean it up but I haven’t really gotten around to it.”

“Jack did that,” he said turning to Spencer, tears welling up in his chocolate eyes. “It was experiment night and he put too much chemicals together. You didn’t stop him and really torched the ceiling. I was mad. I was so mad at you. You…you said…”

“I told you that he needed to learn,” Spencer completed. “That’s all part of the scientific approach. But I never would have let him do something actually dangerous. I would never let him get hurt.”

“We fought. I yelled at you and it made Jack cry.”

Spencer nodded.

“I felt…I felt like my father.”

Spencer stepped closer. “You’re not your father, Aaron. You’re nothing like him.”

“But I am,” he whispered, the tears now streaming down his face. “I am. I get so angry sometimes. I feel it under the surface all the time. I want to yell and scream and hit…what if I hit him? What was thinking? I said was never going to have kids. Never.”

Spencer was close enough to rest his hands on the boy’s shaking shoulders. He waited until Aaron looked up at him. The terror and self-recrimination in his eyes nearly broke Spencer’s heart.

“You are not your father, Aaron. I have seen you with Jack. You are a loving and caring father. He adores you. He has never been afraid of you because he has no reason to be afraid of you.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

Slowly, tentatively, Aaron leaned forward, as if he was looking for comfort but didn’t know how to ask for it, fully afraid that he would be rejected or rebuked. Spencer waited, letting Aaron take the lead until the boy was pressed against his chest before wrapping his arms around his shoulders. They stood that way for a long time, simply holding each other in support and comfort.

Finally, they pulled apart when Aaron’s stomach started to growl. Spencer chuckled as he leaned back, his hands still on the boy’s shoulders.

“I think we need to get you something to eat.”

Aaron nodded as he wiped his face off with his sleeves. “Chinese?” he asked.

Spencer patted the shoulders beneath his hands before turning away to head for the drawer that held all of his takeout menus. “Any idea what you want?”

“I was thinking maybe the sizzling rice and Gan Guo that we had last week.”

Spencer froze as he turned. That was the exact meal they had ordered the last time Aaron had been over the apartment. “Okay,” he whispered.

“Great,” Aaron said as he turned and sauntered out of the room as if nothing crazy happened. “I’m going to grab my stuff and head to the guest room. I’m assuming that’s where you want me.”

“Sure,” Spencer called back, still standing there stunned. “Need me to show you the way?”

“Nope, I got it.”

Spencer shook his head. It was a little disconcerting how quickly Aaron was adapting, changing, the memories bringing him closer to the man he knew while still living in the body of this boy. He didn’t know exactly how to reconcile the two but he hoped this wouldn’t change the man he knew too much.

Food came and was heartily consumed. Spencer was honestly surprised at how much Aaron actually ate. Normally, the man he knew would spoon up a small amount of food, making sure Spencer got enough and eating all of that before getting more. The teen however quickly scooped up an impressive amount of food before quickly shoveling it all in his mouth. Once he was done, he looked up at Spencer apprehensively before he pushed the boxes back toward the teen who quickly finished up the food in no time. He made a mental note to order more food next time.

Once the food was consumed and the table cleaned, Spencer noted Aaron was yawning.

“I think it’s time to turn in,” he prompted.

“Yeah,” Aaron quietly agreed. “I can’t believe how tired I am.”

“Well, it’s been a long few days and a lot has happened. You need to give yourself time to deal with all of the changes.”

“I suppose.”

They stared at each other for a few moments before Aaron asked, “Can I shower?”

“Yes! Of course.” Spencer got him a towel and all the things he would need before watching the boy slip into the shower. He listened for a few moments, making sure Aaron didn't have another flashback of painful memories. When he was sure the boy was alright, he turned away and made sure the guest room was ready for him to use. He didn’t have much chance to have anyone use it so he set about changing the sheets and pulling out extra blankets in case Aaron got cold. Just as he was finishing up; he heard a sound from the doorway. The sight before him stopped him cold. There was Aaron, still damp from the shower with just a towel wrapped around his waist as he ran another towel over his dripping, raven colored locks. The scars were on full display and Spencer couldn’t help but swallow hard looking at the strong, lightly furred chest.

Aaron pulled the towel from his head before catching Spencer’s eye. The smirk on his face was deadly. “Like what you see?” he asked, his voice rich and deep, so much like the voice Spencer remembered only worse with the Southern drawl coloring it.

Spencer stepped back, nearly tripping over his own feet in his haste as he tried to more away from the advancing teen. His back slammed against the way and he gasped as the air was practically knocked from his lungs.

“Aaron,” he warned. “This isn’t right.”

“Why not? You like me. I like you. We’ve been dancing around this for a while now, haven’t we?”

“You’re fourteen,” Spencer protested.

“No. I’m not. According to you, I’m forty five. I just _look_ fourteen.”

“That’s completely beside the poin…”

“I think that’s completely the point,” Aaron whispered as he continued forward. “Oh, I see. That’s one of the things holding you two back, ain’t it? The age difference. You’re twenty nine and he’s forty five. But now it’s the other way, ain’t it? Same difference but now I’m younger. What’s the matter, Spence? Worried you might like it?”

Aaron was now nearly close enough to touch and Spencer pushed back further, as if he could press back into the wall.

“Aaron,” he groaned, turning his head away. “I can’t, okay. Please.”

“Why not?”

“You’re fourteen.”

“No I’m not.”

Spencer sighed. “Fine. You may not be fourteen but your body is. I can’t, Aaron. I can’t do that.”

When Spencer opened his eyes, he was surprised to see that Aaron had stepped away. The look in his eyes was hard to place - concern, fear, desire, rebellion all warring in their depths. Spencer wondered what Aaron was thinking when suddenly the boy smiled before turning to move away. “Suit ya’self Spencer. But don’t you think I’m going to make it easy on ya’. I’m used to fighting for what I want, ya’ know.”

Once the teen was gone, Spencer let himself breathe. This wasn’t going to be easy.

*************

Spencer woke the next morning, rested and refreshed. He was a little surprised that Aaron hadn’t woke him at some point during the night. He’d half expected a nightmare or unpleasant memory to wake the boy and force Spencer to come running to his aid but that never happened. So he made sure to pull on a t-shirt and adjusted his sleep pants before he slipped out of his room. Walking past the guest room, he rapped lightly on the door and listened to hear if Aaron called out. When he didn’t hear anything, he slowly pushed open the door, calling out the boy’s name. Aaron was nowhere to be found.

Quickly he rushed down the hallway, only to find the boy standing over the sink, devouring a large bowl of Spencer’s favorite, very expensive granola and sipping a large cup of  
coffee clad only a pair of bright blue, very tight boxer briefs. He froze at the sight, wondering who he had pissed off so badly to be receiving this type of torture.

He must have made some sort of noise because Aaron turned his head, smiling around a mouth full of cereal. He smirked as he leaned his hip against the counter, turning most of his body to face Spencer. Once he swallowed, he asked, “Been there staring for long, Spencer?”

Spencer did his best to hold back a groan. He was having a terrible time getting used to hearing his name falling from Aaron’s lips sounding like “Spensah”. It was extremely distracting. Finally, his brain caught up with the fact that Aaron had asked him a question and Spencer fought to answer it. “Uh, what?”

Aaron laughed then before leaning back and grabbing his cup of coffee. He took a long, languid pull from the mug before sighing deeply. “How long have you been standing there staring at me, Spencer?”

Spencer closed his eyes and ran his hand over his face. He’d always heard how hard it was raising teens. Now he knew the truth was even worse.

“Long enough to know that you have now eaten all of my organic, free sourced granola and I’m going to have to triple my grocery budget while you’re here.”

Aaron’s head fell back as he burst out in laughter once again. Spencer couldn’t help but smile. He had never seen Aaron this relaxed, this free with laughter and smiles. The dimples alone were making him weak in the knees. Once he finished laughing, Aaron said, “I’m a growing boy. Growing boys gotta eat.”

“Well, Aaron may not be so happy with you once he’s back to being the right age. He’s very picky about what he eats. He even tracks his macros.”

“Tracks his macros?” the boy asked, sounding incredulous and confused. “What the hell does that even mean? Sounds like Aaron needs to learn how to live a little more. Life is too short not to eat the good stuff.”

Snorting lightly, Spencer leaned forward to grab the nearly empty coffee mug from the boy’s hand. “Well, growing boys don’t drink coffee so…” He brought the mug to his lips to drink the remainder of the coffee, only to be thrown off by the incredibly sweet taste bursting across his tongue. “Holy hell!”

“What?”

“Isn’t that a bit sweet for you?”

“Says the man who likes a little coffee with his sugar.”

“Only when I’m tired.”

They stared at each other for a minute before Spencer softly asked. “How much are you remembering?”

Aaron stopped for a moment, actually stopping to think about the question. “More and more all the time. Like just now. I know exactly how you take your coffee without even thinking about it. Do you think I’ll remember everything in time?”

Spencer shrugged. “Maybe. But hopefully we won’t have to worry about it. With any luck Dr. Kimura will come up with a cure and we won’t have wait and see.”  
Aaron nodded lightly. “Okay.” After a moment, he shook himself before moving to step around Spencer. “Guess I’d best be getting ready?”

“Ready for what?”

“Work.”

Spencer quickly followed the boy down the hall toward the guest room. “Oh no. No, you are not going into work. Not like that you’re not.”

“Of course not,” Aaron said, shaking his head as if Spencer had said the most ridiculous thing ever. “I need a suit.”

*************

Aaron grumbled as he paced through the apartment. He’d been in bad mood ever since Spencer had left him behind to go in to work. Aaron had had every intention of going into the BAU that morning, just like he had nearly every other morning since he’d joined the unit. Aaron very rarely ever missed work. Only a suspension and trips to the hospital – his or Haley’s – had ever really stopped him. Even when he was ill, Aaron tried to go to work.

But now, just because he was a child, he was being forced to stay away – by Reid no less!

Aaron had already spent a better part of the morning watching television and catching up on some current events. As he surfed through channel after channel, he had more and more memories coming to mind – nothing really traumatic, but some pleasant, others not so much.

So far, the hardest memory to deal with was the loss of Gideon. Aaron had seen the man as sort of a father figure, one not wholly different from his actual father. Not that Gideon was abusive or anything, he was simply very tight-lipped with acknowledgement and praise. It was one reason why Aaron had sent Penelope the flowers in Jason’s name. Aaron understood how much consideration and praise could mean, even if he never received any himself. But as he had been thinking about going into work, he was struck with the pain of knowing Jason wouldn’t be there and hadn’t even given Aaron any consideration or warning. Just a note – for Spencer. Nothing for him. Nothing at all.

So – just like Aaron’s father then.

When Aaron had felt tears well up at the sudden onslaught of emotion, he pushed up off the couch and searched for something, anything else to do than think of work. If they didn’t need him, then he didn’t need them either. He’d spent time rummaging around Spencer’s apartment looking for something to take his mind off the team – his team – working without him.

He was starting to feel restless, almost itchy in his own skin. Aaron always hated sitting around doing nothing. Part of him wanted to read but twice he’d picked up books that he thought looked interesting only to realize a few pages in that he’d already read them, the words and phrases quickly coming to mind to ending up more annoying than entertaining. He wanted to go out, do something – run, play soccer, anything to burn off some energy, but when the girls had gone to buy him clothes, they hadn’t purchased any running shoes or workout clothes. Aaron wondered if he would still have access to his bank accounts. Maybe he could get Spencer to pull out some money for him and take him shopping.

He’d already tore through most of the junk food in the house. Aaron had actually been surprised there had been so much of it lying around but it hadn’t been hard to find Spencer stash of Pop Tarts and candy bars disguised as protein bars. He’d planned on eating all of them but then that annoying part of his brain chimed in and told him to stop.  
Spencer had called and said he was going to stop at the grocery store on the way home, mostly because he still had Aaron’s vehicle but Aaron figured it was so that he would stop eating all of Spencer’s fancy, expensive food. He knew Spencer wouldn’t be home for at least an hour so Aaron decided to go exploring. Sneaking into Spencer’s bedroom, Aaron took his time looking around. He’d never been in this room before and it intrigued him, trying to figure out the genius.

Rows and rows of Converse sneakers and dress shoes weren’t a surprise but the rather large collection of suits, some rather expensive looking was. There were three-piece suits, several with matching vests and ties, were meticulously lined along one side of the closet. Aaron was tempted to try a few on, a lovely grey number in particular, but he resisted. Besides, Spencer was at least four inches taller than he was so he doubted they would fit.

It wasn’t a surprise at all to find stacks of books all over the room – on shelves, in small piles in the corners and on both nightstands. Aaron grinned at the small Tardis night light plugged into a socket by the door. It had been a present from Aaron and Jack. He smiled at the memory of when Jack found it and had exclaimed that it would be the perfect Christmas present for Spencer. He’d bought it immediately.

Aaron was just getting ready to leave the room when he spotted something on the dresser. Walking forward, he was surprised to find a well-used bottle sitting there. He stepped over and picked it up, turning it over and over in his hands before smiling wide. If he was going to be made to stay behind, he decided he was going to make the best of it.  
He looked at the bed and had a wicked thought. Somewhere deep inside, he knew that was most likely one step too far so he gripped the bottle tight before making his way back to his room. Once he was inside, he swung the door closed but made sure it wasn’t closed all the way before he began to strip of his clothes, letting them fall where they may. Once he was fully naked, he flopped down on the bed on his back before flipping open the lid and coating his left hand in a generous dollop of lube. He wrapped his fingers around his dick and slowly began get himself hard. He started to bring forth images in his mind - images of Spencer and him together, kissing, touching, fucking. In no time, he was fully hard and aching. Before he could stop, he was coming hard, coating his hand with pulse after pulse of thick white strands. He sighed, sinking down into the sheet with a satisfied sigh. It had been much too long since he’d come that hard that fast. His hand continued to stroke, teasing the sensitive flesh, lazily touching over and over. Before he knew it, he was fully hard again.

“Damn, but it’s good to be young,” he whispered as he continued to bring himself closer to completion. He reached down between his legs to brush a finger over his hole when he heard a voice call out, “Aaron?”

Hearing his name called out in Spencer lovely baritone pushed him over the edge as he shouted out Spencer’s name.

*************

Spencer walked through the door, arms laden down with multiple bags of food. Aaron was eating close to twice the amount of food that he had normally and Spencer knew he’d eat just about everything in Spencer’s apartment before the end of the week. The day at work had been long and arduous, pouring over case files in between consulting with Dr. Kimura over Aaron’s situation had worn the young genius out and he was just happy to be home.

He stumbled into the kitchen, nearly tripping over his feet as he went, the weight of the bags pulling him along and making him feel unstable. He slammed into the dining table and cursed lightly when he hit his shin on the hard wood of one of the chairs. Finally untangling himself from the bag handles, he looked around, surprised not to see Aaron in front of the television. He turned down the hallway and called out, “Aaron?”

When he heard his name shouted back, he ran toward the guest room, throwing open the door and nearly falling over himself at the sight before him. There, completely naked on his bed, was Aaron, left hand wrapped tight around his pulsing cock with the fingers of his right buried deep within his cheeks. Spencer gasped, drawing the gaze of the oblivious boy. Aaron’s eyes locked with Spencer’s own and he groaned loudly as his hips snapped up and he continued to pulse over his hand. Once the high receded, a blush of bright crimson began to creep up his chest before spilling over his already flushed cheeks.

Spencer wondered if he was just as bright red.

Realizing that he was standing there staring, Spencer cursed lightly before turning his back toward the still gasping boy. He tried to get his feet to work, to propel him out of the room, but they refused to work.

“Spensah,” Aaron called, quietly, seductively. Spencer was still surprised to discover that his own name could sound so dirty. When he didn’t respond, Aaron called out louder,  
“Spensah. It’s not a big deal. We all do it. I know you do, especially after I came back from a run, all flushed and sweaty.”

“Wha…how…you can’t know,” Spencer protested.

“And yet I do. Nobody takes that long in the bathroom, especially not every single time I get in from my run.”

Spencer sighed hard and shook his head. Where was the emergency “We have a case and need you right now” call when you needed it?

“What’s the big deal anyway?”

“What’s the big deal?!” Spencer nearly shrieked as he turned around only to whip right back around at the unabashed look on the still naked boy’s face. “The big deal is that you’re fourteen!”

“I am not!” Aaron shouted back. Spencer heard him sit up and begin to move his way so Spencer quickly walked back to the door.

“I will not have this conversation with you while you are still naked, Aaron Hotchner,” he said firmly. “Now I am going to go into the kitchen to put away the large amount of groceries that I bought for you and once you are cleaned up and dressed, we can have a civil conversations like two grown men.”

“I thought I was just a child,” Aaron threw at him petulantly.

“I never said you were child. Please don’t manipulate my words. I’ll be waiting in the kitchen when you are done.”

Spencer left quickly, accidentally closing the door just a little bit too hard behind him. He made room for all the food, losing himself in the task of reorganizing the cabinets and pantry while he waiting for Aaron to come out of his room. He had just finished putting the last box of cereal away when he heard a throat clear behind him. He turned to see  
Aaron standing there, his head and shoulders bowed and he looked suitably chastised.

“Sorry,” the boy mumbled softly.

“Excuse me,” Spencer said, thinking he had misheard him.

Pain filled, slightly terrified eyes snapped up to meet his own before they immediately dropped back down to the floor. “I said I’m sorry, sir,” Aaron nearly shouted, his voice trembling as he spoke.

Spencer immediately recognized the fear and quietly asked, “What do you think is going to happen here, Aaron?”

“I’m going to be punished,” the boy said, his eyes never quite meeting Spencer’s own. “I deserve to be punished.”

Spencer sighed. This was so not something he wanted to do but he knew that he needed to do, something he needed to make right.

“Aaron, have a seat please.”

The boy scrambled to comply, hands folded in his nap and eyes downcast to the tabletop.

“Aaron. I’m not going to punish you. We just need to talk about this.”

“Why?” Aaron whined. It was a sound Spencer had never heard before. He decided he didn’t like it.

“Because if we have any chance of having a relationship, we need to be honest with each other.”

Surprised, wide chocolate eyes snapped up to meet his own. A look of need and desire passed over them and he stammered,” But…but…but you said….so you think we could…  
yes!” He started to jump up to hug or kiss him, Spencer wasn’t sure which, but he held out his hands, directing Aaron back to the seat instead.

“I said “if” and that’s _if_ you can get back to your real age.”

Aaron looked disappointed and upset all at the same time.

“I will not - let me say that again – will **not** do anything with you like that while you are fourteen. I know that you are actually forty-five and those memories are coming back, apparently with a vengeance but Aaron, you **look** fourteen! Have you even thought what that might do to me?”

Aaron huffed, throwing his hands up before slamming them down onto his lap in a fit. “Why does that matter?”

“Because I am not attracted to you as a teenager. I _am _attracted to you as a forty-five year old man.”__

__“The front of your pants told a different story back there in that bedroom,” Aaron said quietly, a small smirk on the boy’s face._ _

__“It doesn’t change the fact that being with a fourteen year old is one of the things that I will never do, Aaron. Never. So all this seduction and messing around with me stops now. Do we understand each other?”_ _

__Aaron sighed. “Okay. No more trying to get you to fuck my hot, supple body over the couch or on the kitchen table like…”_ _

__“Aaron,” Spencer warned._ _

__“Alright, alright,” Aaron placated. “Just because you won’t take me doesn’t mean I’m going to make it easy on you, you know. Horny fourteen year old boy here who thinks you are the hottest thing he’s seen in much too long. My stamina might be shit right now but my refractory period is amazing.”_ _

__Spencer groaned, dropping into the chair next to Aaron’s, his elbow slamming onto the table and his head falling into his hands. “Is there anything I can do to make you stop?”_ _

__“Get me some running shoes and workout clothes? Maybe a soccer ball?”_ _

__“Yes!” Spencer nearly shouted. “Done and done!”_ _

__*************_ _

__The next several days were mostly uneventful. Spencer followed through with his promise to get Aaron something to do to help burn off his excess energy during the day. He started with running in the morning but he still found it necessary to do something else to keep occupied so he began going down to the park by Spencer’s apartment to play soccer. He found a group that let him join their practices and his skills were growing quickly._ _

__One afternoon, Spencer went down to the park to go find Aaron. He had been surprised when the boy wasn’t at home but he knew exactly where to go to find him. He couldn’t help but smile as he watched the boy run up and down the field, deftly manipulating the ball as he moved around defenders on his way to making a goal. He was stopped and tripped right before he scored, trumbling head over heels. Spencer had gasped, sure that the boy would get up and yell or curse, but he didn’t. He simply jumped, ready to continue playing. He had turned then and smiled when he saw Spencer watching._ _

__He jogged over quickly, wiping the sweat from his forehead as he went. “What time is it?” he asked, slightly out of breath._ _

__“It’s almost seven,” Spencer answered, a warm smile on his face. “I brought home dinner and when you weren’t there, I figured I’d find you here.”_ _

__“Great! I’m starving.”_ _

__Spencer couldn’t help but chuckle. “Why doesn’t that surprise me?”_ _

__Aaron turned and waved at the guys he’d been playing with, letting them know he was leaving. Soon they were heading down the street, side by side, as Aaron began excitedly telling Spencer all about his day. Finally, Spencer asked, “What is it about soccer, Aaron? I don’t think I’ve ever seen you smile so much.”_ _

__Aaron thought for a moment, his gaze growing distant as he thought. “I always wanted to play. Bunch of my friends were on teams through the Rec Department but my father wouldn’t let me join. He said he wasn’t going to let his kid play “Mexican football”. Said I needed to play a real sport, something a man would play like football or baseball. I decided on track instead. It wasn’t quite what he wanted buy at least he didn’t complain about it.”_ _

__“Is that why you wanted Jack to play? Why you agreed to coach his team?”_ _

__“Maybe.” Aaron shrugged as he kept his head down. “It’s nice to be able to play. When Haley signed Jack up to play, I couldn’t believe it. I almost...I almost signed up to play myself when I found out the Rec Department has an adult league.”_ _

__“Why didn’t you?”_ _

__“The job, the time commitment, knowing that I’m old now.”_ _

__“But you’re still active and if it’s something you’d like to do, why not go for it?”_ _

__Aaron sighed. “I...I was afraid that I’d be bad at it. Coaching is one thing. Playing is another.”_ _

__Spencer turned to smile at him. “You looked pretty good at it to me.”_ _

__Aaron nodded slightly before dropping his head. “I guess.”_ _

__He felt his heart swell at the look on the boy’s face. He didn’t know how a father could beat down a boy like Aaron or how a mother could just let it happen. He was determined to make every moment of his time as a teen again better than it was the first time._ _

__“I hope you’re hungry,” he said as they reached his apartment building. “I got extra potstickers.”_ _

__“Hell, yeah!” Aaron crowed as he stepped through the door. “Race ya’ upstairs!”_ _

__Aaron took off with a whoop, his feet pounding up the steps. Spencer just chuckled before following behind. Aaron might have youth on his side but Spencer’s legs were longer. Spencer nearly caught him as they reached the top of the third floor but with a final burst of speed, Aaron made it to the door first. They both laughed as Spencer unlocked the door and ushered Aaron inside._ _

__“Man, it smells good in here!” Aaron nearly shouted when he walked inside._ _

__“Go wash up and I’ll get everything plated.”_ _

__Spencer chuckled as Aaron darted out of the room followed by the sound of water running in the bathroom. He had just finished getting the food out of the bags and dished out onto plates for the two of them with most of the food on the plate for Aaron when he heard the water turn off. He made sure to keep his back turned away from the hallway where the bathroom was. Despite their talk, Aaron had made a habit of walking around the apartment naked - after a shower, first thing in the morning, when he got up in the middle of the night to use the restroom or get a drink of water. Soon, the sound of a chair being pulled out caused him to turn around. When he saw the boy sitting at the table, shoving a dumpling in his mouth, he realized that Aaron had not put a shirt back on. He stared at the shitless chest for a moment before clearing his throat._ _

__“Aaron. What did we say about not wearing clothes at the dining table?”_ _

__“I am wearing clothes,” Aaron mumbled around a mouth full of dumpling, a small smirk on his face. He stood to show off the pair of spandex shorts he had slipped on after his quick shower. Spencer was continually surprised at how Aaron could and would bend the rules for his own purposes. It really wasn’t a surprise that he’d been a lawyer._ _

__“Okay, we shall amend that rule to now say, if you want to eat food in this house, you must wear appropriate clothing which will include a shirt that covers your shoulders and extends down at least to the waistband of your pants or shorts, which you will also wear. None of the items may be see-through and they must fit appropriate, aka not skin tight.  
Do you have an agreement?”_ _

__Aaron sighed, looking a little put out. Spencer had no doubt that the boy would find a way around this new rule but he had to admit that he was a little curious to find out how._ _

__“Agreed.” Aaron held out his hand and Spencer shook it. At the devious look on the boy’s face, he had to admit he was a little scared._ _

__After Aaron came back, pulling one of Spencer’s CalTech t-shirts over his head, they quickly tucked in, filling up on the variety of delicious food. As always, Aaron ate and ate until he could eat no more. Spencer was honestly shocked at the sheer amount of food Aaron ate but he would never stop him. One night, Spencer had finally asked him about it and from what Aaron told him, he got the feeling that the boy had had food withheld as a punishment more often than not. Spencer understood going to sleep hungry. His own mother had often forgot to feed him when her delusions got bad but Spencer’d learned how to cook for himself. Boxed mac and cheese and jello were frequent dinners for the boys as he grew, but Aaron didn’t have that option. The cooks were warned not to feed him and if he was caught with food, his punishment was even worse. So Spencer just let him eat what he wanted. He’d deal with the consequences when Aaron was back to his regular self._ _

__Spencer laughed when he saw Aaron staring longingly at the last two potstickers. “You’d better not. You’ll make yourself sick again.”_ _

__“But they don’t keep so good,” Aaron complained._ _

__Shaking his head, Spencer began to clear away the dishes and packing up the food. “I’ll save it for you and show you the best way to reheat them. I promise it’s not as bad as you think.”_ _

__“Okay,” Aaron grumbled as he stood, moving over to help Spencer with the dishes. Aaron had insisted on helping right away and this was one thing that just felt right. Aaron washing and rinsing, Spencer drying and putting everything away. It was so familiar, just like they had done multiple times at Aaron’s place after science experiment night or movie night with Jack. It felt like so long ago but he knew it hadn’t even been two weeks yet. He was standing, simply holding a plate when fingers snapped in front of his face._ _

__“Hello. Earth to Major Tom,” Aaron said good-naturedly. When Spencer turned to look at him, he asked, “Where’d ya’ go?”_ _

__“Sorry.” Spencer shook his head to clear it of his melancholy thoughts._ _

__“What is it?” Aaron asked, his voice, his tone, the concerned look on his face so much like the Hotch he knew made his heart clench. Spencer missed him and now that he knew they liked each other, he worried that he might never get that man back._ _

__“I just…I just miss you.”_ _

__Aaron’s head cocked to the side in question, a look Spencer had never really seen before._ _

__“But I’m right here, Spensah.”_ _

__Spencer smiled sadly. All he could think was, so close and yet so far. “Yeah.” He nodded as he turned, worried that his face would give him away. He knew he’d failed when Aaron just sighed and finished rinsing out the sink. Without another word, he left Spencer alone in the kitchen, pining for someone right in front of him and yet so far away._ _

__Spencer knew he needed to shake off the sad thoughts so he put the dishes away and finished wiping down the counters and making sure everything was put to rights. He wandered into the front room, surprised to find that Aaron was not glued to the television but instead was surrounded by case files._ _

__“Aaron?” He asked. “What are you doing? You can’t be going through those?”_ _

__“Why not?”_ _

__“You’re fourteen. You can’t just read these.”_ _

__“I am still an FBI agent and this particular case is one that I assigned you as a cold case so don’t tell me I can’t look at these. Besides, you don't need this one anymore. I figured it out.”_ _

__“What?” “But...how did you..?!”_ _

__“The interviews with the brothers. The older brother really played up the details, like he was working really hard to give the story just as he’d rehearsed it. But the younger one? He was too relaxed. He’s a sociopath who played upon the frailty of his brother. The older one felt the need to protect but it doesn’t necessarily make him stronger. We’ve seen that type of need to protect in traditional Southern families before. Both boys suffered at the hands of a father in a psychotic break, thinking that he was called by God, but they handled it in very different ways. I think if we go looking, we will find the older brother is in hiding and the younger one might be incarcerated or is still killing. He just got better at it is all.”_ _

__Spencer snagged the file from Aaron’s fingers and began to read over it quickly, shocked when he completely agreed with Aaron’s analysis. He had a thought and reached out to grab the case file for the most recent case they had worked on._ _

__“Take a look at this file,” he said as he handed it over. Aaron moved to page through it quickly but Spencer stopped him. “Not so fast. Just the first few pages. I want you to tell me what you see. Walk me through the process.”_ _

__Aaron stared down at the file, looking at the photos of the first two women found and reports from the ME. He looked up at Spencer and asked, “Did you interview the families?”  
Spencer nodded._ _

__“They didn’t dress like this normally did they?”_ _

__He shook his head._ _

__“Can I move on?” When spencer silently motioned for him to continue, Aaron flipped through a few more pages, looking at photos and reports, scrutinizing them thoroughly before asking his questions. “The last woman taken, Bethany Wallace. She was a blonde.”_ _

__“Yes.”_ _

__“Well, they are all young, petite women in good health. The Unsub took good care for them, dressed them she treasured them.”_ _

__Spencer startled a little at that. “What make you think the Unsub was a woman?”_ _

__“The level of care she gave them,” Aaron reasoned. “She obviously did her best to keep them healthy. Like the ME had listed, the only reason they died was the amount of stress on the body due to extreme amount of medication she was giving them. But there wasn’t a bruise or mark on them. It’s easy to see that she loved them.”_ _

__Spencer smiled. It wasn’t hard to see the profiler hiding beneath the skin of the fourteen year old._ _

__“Did y’all come to the conclusion that she was a collector?” When Spencer nodded, he continued. “Dolls. She was replacing her dolls. Someone took them – her daddy if I’m not mistaken.”_ _

__“Yes,” Spencer said as he pulled the file from the boy’s fingers. “He was a therapist and had been abusing her for years. He took her dolls and gave them to someone else, someone he had been or was planned to abuse as well.”_ _

__“And y’all found the women before they died?”_ _

__“We did. They are all getting the medical attention they need and it looks like they will all make a full recovery.”_ _

__“That’s good.” Aaron looked up at him with such a hopeful look on his face that it nearly took Spencer’s breath away. “How can they do it?”_ _

__“What?” he asked as he set the file aside, sitting next to the boy on the couch. “Fathers. How can they hurt their own flesh and blood like that? She was just a child – innocent and  
trusting. How can anyone..?”_ _

__Spencer was surprised to see so much pain and anguish in the deep brown depths starting at him, imploring him to make it better. The problem was, he didn’t know how._ _

__“I don’t know, Aaron. I honestly don’t know.”_ _

__Just then, the boy launched himself forward, throwing himself into Spencer’s arms as he cried out, “I miss Jack.”_ _

__Spencer flailed for a moment, unsure of what to do. Aaron clung to him, gripping Spencer’s button up in his fists as tears soaked through the soft cotton. Finally, he brought himself to comfort the young man, wrapping his arms around the thin shoulders as he held him close as he whispered nonsense in his ear, just trying to calm him. When Aaron’s tears began to abate, Spencer whispered in his hair, “We really could have used you on this case.”_ _

__“Really?” Aaron answered, remaining where he was with his head tucked up underneath Spencer’s chin._ _

__“Really. You’re right about having a fresh perspective. I think your life experiences teamed with your profiler knowledge and the freshness of your youth could really be an asset.”  
“You’re just saying that,” the boy grumbled._ _

__“I am not. Have you ever known me to say something I didn’t honestly believe?” When Aaron took a little long to answer, Spencer poked him in the ribs in jest. “Thinking a little bit too hard about that, Aaron.”_ _

__The giggle shook Aaron against Spencer’s chest. It was a good feeling._ _

__Tentatively, Aaron asked, “Do you think we could see Jack? Maybe tomorrow after work?”_ _

__Spencer thought for a moment before he nodded. “I’ll call Jessica and see what she thinks. But you have to remember Aaron, this may be a little difficult on him. He is just a boy.”_ _

__“Not just a boy,” Aaron replied. “He is pretty smart if I do say so myself.”_ _

__Spencer honestly couldn’t help but agree. “Okay. Tomorrow after work - _if_ Jessica agrees.”_ _

__“Yes!” Aaron crowed as he pulled away. Before Spencer could stop him, Aaron darted in and pressed a kiss to the corner of Spencer’s mouth before nearly bounding off the couch toward Spencer’s bedroom. By the time he had his faculties back, Aaron was already rummaging through his closet._ _

__“Aaron Hotchner!” he called. “What exactly do you think you are up to in there?”_ _

__Aaron pulled his head from the closet and leaned around the doorframe with the widest smile on his face. “Gotta find a suit to go to work tomorrow. I can’t go to work in jeans, you know.”_ _

__Spencer stared at the open doorway as Aaron continue to dig through his closet. Finally he blurted out, “When did I agree to that?!”_ _

__“Just now. Come on! I know you’ve got to have something in here that I can wear.”_ _

__Spencer groaned. If there was one thing he’d learned, it was that Hotch, young or old, was not going to be deterred when he got an idea in his head. It was looking like tomorrow, the BAU was going to be adding it’s first fourteen year old member._ _

__************_ _

__Spencer sighed as they took the elevator up to the sixth floor. He knew in his head that this was a bad idea but Aaron had systematically shot down every single one of his  
arguments against Aaron going into work at the BAU. Now he just needed to convince the powers that be. He glanced over at Aaron who was practically bouncing in place in excitement. The boy had nearly drove Spencer crazy that morning, waking him half an hour early in his fervor, letting Spencer know he was ready to get back to work. It was charming in a frustrating and sleep depriving way._ _

__Despite himself, he couldn’t help but admire the way the suit Aaron had borrowed was clinging to his lanky frame. Aaron had spent over an hour the night before trying on suit after suit, hoping to find something of Spencer’s that he could wear. Eventually he had hit the very back of Spencer’s closet and hit on a treasure. Spencer had forgotten all about the dark charcoal suit he’d been forced to buy for a wedding he’d been asked to be in right before he’d left CalTech. It was two of his research buddies and they had asked him last minute to be an usher. The suit was more stylish than he was used to wearing at the time and didn’t really fit him anymore. Despite that, he was loathe to give it away, so he’d stored it in the back._ _

__Aaron had been over the moon when he found it, although he was a little bit put out when it turned out to be several inches too long for his shorter frame. That hadn’t stopped the young man as he asked Spencer for a sewing kit and painstakingly taken the time to stitch a perfect hem in the trousers. He’d taken the time to shower and try to tame his long, unruly locks but the cowlick in the front refused to behave and Aaron just resigned himself dealing with it._ _

__Spencer tried his best not to stare, but despite himself, Aaron looked good – for a fourteen year old, he reminded himself._ _

__Once he elevator doors opened and they stepped out, all eyes were on them. It wasn’t long before they were surrounded._ _

__“Hotch?” Prentiss asked as she walked up to them. When Aaron visibly flinched, she quickly apologized._ _

__“No, it’s fine,” he said with a small smile. “I understand that’s what you call him…I mean me. I’ll get used to it.”_ _

__“What are you doing here, man?” Morgan asked._ _

__“It’s time for me to get back to work.”_ _

__“What has Strauss said about that?” Rossi asked._ _

__Before he could answer, there was a squeal and a flurry of pink was racing toward him._ _

__“Oh Em Gee!” Garcia squealed. “Look at the Baby Boss Man in his super cute suit! Of course you came in a suit. Please tell me you went shopping just for the suit!”_ _

__“Garcia,” Aaron said, pulling himself out of range of the Technical Analyst’s embrace. “It’s one of Spensah’s old suits.”_ _

__Penelope squealed again, louder this time. “That’s even cuter! You are so…”_ _

__She began to reach out, her fingers heading for his face, when he grabbed her around her wrists tightly._ _

__“Do not squeeze my cheeks, Garcia! I am a grown man.”_ _

__A sad pout formed on her lips as her hands dropped down. Aaron sighed as he caved. “Fine. Just this once, I guess.”_ _

__“Yay!” she cried as she pinched the apples of his cheeks before pulling him in close. “I like little you.”_ _

__“Thanks,” he grumbled under his breath, but Spencer could see the hint of a smile peeking out beneath the tough exterior. After a moment, he brought his hands up and pressed  
back against the clingy woman. Penelope reluctantly relinquished the young man who immediately reached up to straighten his suit, huffing lightly at the state of his tie._ _

__“Aaron?” Rossi said as the team all stepped in closer. “What are you..?”_ _

__“What do you think you’re doing here, Agent Hotchner?” The icy voice cut through the good vibes surrounding the reunited team. As one, they all looked up at the imposing figure of Erin Strauss standing on the catwalk staring down at them._ _

__Aaron cleared his throat as he stood to his full height despite being a good six inches shorter than his normal frame. “Spensah and I came to talk to you, ma’am.”_ _

__“Spencer?” she asked, a look of suspicion plastered on her face._ _

__“I meant Dr. Reid, ma’am,” Aaron corrected. “May we go to your office to explain?”_ _

__She looked at the assembled group for a moment as if to determine if this was some kind of a setup orchestrated by the team. Seemingly satisfied, she nodded and swiftly moved toward her office without another glance._ _

__Sighing, Aaron looked at Spencer and said, “Well, let’s go see if we can talk the she-witch into letting us do this thing.”_ _

__Aaron nearly darted up the stairs, never realizing the waves of shock and laughter he was leaving in his wake. Spencer followed at a more sedate pace, chuckling at the looks following them. He turned and whispered to the team, “Wish us luck.”_ _

__Several calls of good luck trailed after them as they made their way toward the Section Chief’s office._ _

_In the end, it turned out to be less of a fight than they had been expecting. Strauss protested at first, claiming that it was impossible to have a minor on the team, but Spencer and_  
Aaron had countered her every point with one of their own. Spencer had been barely in his twenties when he had joined the team and despite his current physical state of being in his teens, Aaron had nearly all of his memories back. When Spencer mentioned Aaron’s newfound point of view and its value for the team, she seemed to cave a bit. When they agreed to have Aaron tested in all physical disciplines, including firearms, and approved of her stipulation that Aaron would always stay at the station house during out of town cases, Strauss finally gave her blessing to have Aaron back on the team. Morgan would remain acting Unit Chief and Aaron would always have to be in the presence of Rossi or  
Reid.

__As soon as they told the team, everyone smiled and agreed that they were all on board. Aaron’s first stop was the firing range. Spencer went with him and if he had been impressed by Aaron’s skills with a firearm before, watching him easily fly through the range with every firearm set before him, including the high powered sniper rifle as a teen was awe inspiring. Spencer needed to adjust himself several times watching the teen with his steely gaze and steady hands. He’d always loved watching Hotch in the field with his trusty glocks and he’d had to suffer through months of wet dreams after Hotch had tried to help him pass his own qualifications._ _

__Once he had been given the green light by the testing agent, Aaron turned and smiled wide at Spencer, his eyes alight with joy for the first time in a long time. After he slipped on his suit jacket, Aaron bounced up to Spencer and held out his fist. Spencer smiled back and bumped his fist to Aaron’s own._ _

__“One down,” Aaron crowed, “Two to go!”_ _

__Spencer couldn’t help but feed off his enthusiasm. “Let’s go get you changed and then Morgan can take you to do the physical and hand to hand assessments.”_ _

__“Yes!” Aaron said, nearly running out of the range with Spencer close behind._ _

__Aaron had easily passed both tests, the vigor of youth and the wisdom of his memories helped him get through both with flying colors. After a quick shower and a change of clothes, Aaron was ready to get back to work. At first, they wanted to put him in his old office, but Aaron didn’t feel comfortable there. The chair was too big and too stiff, the desk was too high and everything just felt too dark. Instead he’d asked to sit in the bullpen with the rest of the team. Despite himself, Morgan eventually agreed and let Aaron sit in the desk next to Spencer._ _

__The day seemed to fly for the teen and soon he found himself yawning widely._ _

__“Come on,” Spencer said, warm hand landing on Aaron’s shoulder, squeezing lightly. “Let’s get you home. It’s been a long day.”_ _

__“Okay.”_ _

__On the way home, Aaron quietly asked, “Have you talked to Jessica yet?”_ _

__Spencer sighed but never took his eyes off the road. “I did but she’s a little bit leery about you meeting Jack right now.”_ _

__“But you told her, right? You told her I remember? I remember her and Haley and Jack and everything?”_ _

__“Yes, Aaron but you have to see it from her side of things. She’s agreed to help you with Jack, she’s his aunt and his only link to her dead sister. She’s trying to do what she thinks is best for Jack.”_ _

__“I’m best for Jack!” Aaron shouted._ _

__Spencer was a little surprised at the outburst. He knew this was all very hard on Aaron, having to deal with all the crazy changes in his life, having his memories but in a fourteen year old body. All in all, he was surprised that Aaron hadn’t snapped earlier._ _

__“Maybe this is why,” he offered._ _

__Aaron huffed, slumping down in the passenger’s seat. “This blows,” he complained. Aaron continued to pout all the way to the apartment. Once they were inside, Spencer sighed  
as he watched Aaron trudged down the hallway toward his room. Spencer stood by the door, worried about the boy. He pulled out his phone and called Jessica. He did his best, pleading his case, hoping the woman on the other end would understand. Eventually, Spencer hung up, a small smile on his face. He quickly went about his evening, putting things away and changing into a pair of jeans and soft t-shirt. After a few minutes, he went to the door to the guest room and knocked._ _

__“Aaron?” he called. “Could you get dressed and come out here for dinner, please?”_ _

__“Why?” was morously thrown back at him._ _

__“You can’t just continue to hide away, Aaron.”_ _

__“Yes I can.”_ _

__Spencer huffed lightly as he leaned against the door. He was not prepared to deal with a moody teenage boy. Just then, there was a knock at the front door._ _

__“Are you sure you don’t want to come out, Aaron?” he called through the door. “Looks like the pizza is here.”_ _

__“Pizza?” Aaron said. He heard the footfalls as the teen made his way toward him. Spencer pushed off the door as it was opened._ _

__“Yeah. Why don’t you go let them in?”_ _

__“Okay,” Aaron said suspiciously. He reached the door and opened, freezing in surprise at the couple standing on the other side. “Jack?” he gasped._ _

__“Aaron!” Jessica exclaimed in shock, staring wide eyed at the boy the two boxes of pizzas wavering dangerously in her arms._ _

__“Hi Jess,” he said, dropping his eyes down to the floor in embarrassment._ _

__The elder Brooks sister’s eyes flew from Aaron to Spencer and back again in quick succession. Spencer just shrugged._ _

__“Oh my god,” she gasped. “You weren’t kidding.”_ _

__Spencer shook his head. “Come on. Let’s not do this out in the hallway, alright?”_ _

__Jessica and Jack came in and Spencer shut the door. He directly the woman to the kitchen to put the food down while the two boys stared at each other._ _

__“Who are you?” Jack asked._ _

__“Don’t you remember me?” Aaron asked, his heart in his throat and tears pricking at the corners of his eyes._ _

__Jack’s head tilted to the side as he studied the teen. ‘You kinda look like Daddy, but you don’t sound like him and he’s older than you.”_ _

__Aaron barked out a laugh of relief. He couldn’t believe that Jack could see him through all of this. “What if I told you I was your Daddy?”_ _

__Jack laughed. “I’d say you were silly.”_ _

__“But it is, Jack,” Jessica said from behind him. They both looked up at her and Aaron couldn’t help but smile. “That’s your Dad. Hi Aaron.”_ _

__“Hi Jess. How’d you know it was really me?”_ _

__“You look so much like you did when you and Haley…” she stopped, her hand covering her mouth. “Like when you and Haley first started dating.”_ _

__Aaron felt a small tug on his fingers and looked down to Jack scrutinizing him, a very familiar look on his face._ _

__“If you’re my Daddy, what is my favorite kinda pizza?”_ _

__He couldn’t help but smile at him. “If I’m not mistaken, one of those pizzas in there is pepperoni and olive, which is your favorite, and the other is a combination with pineapple on only one half...”_ _

__“Because Spencer likes pineapple on his…”_ _

__“But any sane person knows don’t no fruit belong on a pizza.”_ _

__Jack giggled as he smiled up at the teen._ _

__“Hi Daddy,” he said, a sweet look of acceptance on his face._ _

__“Hi Buddy,” Aaron said as he crouched down and swept the boy up into his arms. “Ready for pizza night!”_ _

__“Yeah!” Jack yelled loudly, both arms raised in the air as they waltz into the kitchen to eat._ _

__Spencer and Jessica watched them go past as if the adults weren’t even there._ _

__“Great,” Jessica grumbled good-naturedly. “Now what do we do?”_ _

__*************_ _

__In the end, it was decided that they would move back into Aaron’s apartment with Jessica continuing to watch Jack and Spencer keeping an eye on Aaron since father and son were getting on so well. Aaron was happy to be able to get back to his own space, eager to get into his own closet despite Spencer warning him that he wouldn’t be able to fit into any of his suits just yet. They’d been able to locate two more of Spencer’s older suits that were easily altered to fit Aaron’s smaller frame without looking too odd._ _

__It only took them a few days to fall into a routine. Spencer was happy for Jessica’s help and Jack’s presence seemed to help calm Aaron down some. At least Spencer didn’t have to worry about the teen walking around naked all the time now that little eyes were present. That didn’t mean Aaron had given up completely but it had slowed down the teen’s advances._ _

__On the sixth morning after moving back to the Aaron’s apartment, Spencer woke before anyone else in the house, hoping to squeeze in a quick shower before the house came alive with activity. As he stood outside the door of the office that he was currently using as a bedroom, rubbing the sleep from his eyes, Aaron came bounding in through the front door, his shirt clinging to his thin frame, damp from sweat and his hair falling into his eyes._ _

__“Morning, Spensah,” he called quietly as he quickly divested himself of his shoes and socks on his way toward the bathroom. “Don’t mind if I shower first, do ya’? I’m all hot and sticky from my run. I’ll make them eggs just the way you like them.”_ _

__Without waiting for response, Aaron slipped past him but not before pressing a small kiss to his cheek just at the corner of his mouth. He was pulling his shirt off, sending his hair into even further disarray before smirking at him. “Thanks, Spensah. You’re a peach.”_ _

__When the door closed in his face, Spencer groaned, dropping his head into his hands. Aaron was beginning to age - they had all seen it. He was filling out and getting a little taller. Spencer noticed that his voice was deepening and he was developing a layer of hair that covered his arms and chest in a most familiar way. He was at least fifteen or sixteen now and Spencer was having a difficult time been in such close approximation with him - especially with Aaron making it so hard on him.  
About that time, Spencer heard a gasp and a moan coming from the bathroom. He moved away but not fast enough to not hear the groan of his name in that soft, smooth accent._ _

__“Spensah,” he heard as he quickly made his way into the kitchen to start some coffee. He was going to need plenty of it to get through the day._ _

__Once they were at work, Aaron watched as JJ slipped into Derek’s office. He could just feel that something was off with the media liaison. They had been coworkers for a long time and friends for nearly the same amount of time. He wondered what had brought her to the acting Unit Chief’s office. When she came out, she looked frustrated so he followed her  
back to her own office. When he got inside, he closed the door._ _

__“What’s going on?” he asked._ _

__She huffed before trying to blow him off with “It’s nothing.”_ _

__“JJ,” he chastised. “I know better.”_ _

__She sighed before she explained the situation in Wyoming._ _

__“Four successful suicides in the same rural county in a week? That’s way above the national average.”_ _

__“I know,” JJ explained. “These kids don’t fit the pattern. No drug or alcohol abuse. No antidepressants. No prior arrests. These are just plain good kids who decided to hang  
themselves at approximately the same time on a Friday night.”_ _

__Hotch nodded. It was odd._ _

__“Something is really wrong here, Hotch,” she said, a touch of desperation in her voice. “I can feel it.”_ _

__He trusted her, trusted her instincts with this. He knew about her sister and decided he needed to go out on a limb for her._ _

__“I’ll go talk to Morgan.”_ _

__She smiled at him as he left before making his way into his Unit Chief’s office._ _

__“Hey Hotch,” Morgan said. “What’s up?”_ _

__“I just talked to JJ,” he said, refusing to sit when Derek motioned to a chair. “I think she might be onto something. We can generate an equivocal death investigation to determine if they are suicides or not. We’re not working any other cases right now.”_ _

__“And if you’re both wrong?” Derek asked._ _

__“Then the families will have closure but you have to admit, there is definitely something wrong here.”_ _

__Morgan sighed. “Alright. I’ll call the pilot to get the jet ready. Tell everyone wheels up in thirty.”_ _

__*************_ _

__Once they had landed and started investigating, it was easy to see that someone was manipulating the teens in the county. The revelation of **The Choking Game** shocked them but they knew they needed to contain the threat and talk with the parents and the teens playing the game. _ _

__Aaron and Spencer went to one of the schools, Rossi and Morgan went to another while JJ spoke to a group of adults. As Spencer was talking, Aaron noticed a boy texting another. He walked up to him. “Hey Dude. Let me see it.” When the boy handed over his phone, Aaron read, “What planet is this dude from? He doesn’t want us to win the contest.”_ _

__Spencer stammered for a moment before he explained that he didn’t want them to participate in the contest. He told about the effects of choking yourself and horrors that the victims, that their friend and peer went through just to play this game. Suddenly, a student from the back of the room spoke up._ _

__“You all believe this crap?”_ _

__“You don’t?” Aaron asked. When the goth looking boy shook his head, he said, “Why don’t you come up here and tell us what you think.”_ _

__“Whatever,” the boy said as he stood and began to walk across the back of the room. Before they knew it, the boy bolted and ran from the room. Aaron immediately began to  
follow, chasing the boy through the hallways until finally he caught up with the boy, tackling him to the ground. _ _

__Once Spencer caught up with them, he asked if Aaron was alright before he said, “His neck.” Aaron pulled back the chainmail collar surrounding the boy’s neck, exposing the marks of someone who had been choking himself for some time. Aaron and Spencer looked at each other. It looked like they had found their suspect._ _

__They took the boy in for questioning, but Morgan and Spencer were unable to break through with him. They were running out of time and they all knew it. Finally, after Morgan and Reid came out frustrated, Aaron had an idea._ _

__“What if Garcia and I go in?”_ _

__“What?” Rossi asked._ _

__“I look his age and Garcia will be able to talk about the computer stuff in his own language. Maybe we can make a connection, get him to open up.”_ _

__“Sir,” Garcia said, sounding a little panicked. “I’ve never done that before. What if I mess up?”_ _

__“That’s what I’ll be there for,” he said with a smile as he slipped off his jacket and began to loosen his tie._ _

__She sighed and stood, letting a now much more casual looking Aaron escort her into the room. He smiled as they entered, letting Penelope sit while he stood in the back, leaning against the doorframe and trying to look non-threatening. He just listened as Garcia spoke to the boy, surprised at the ease of which she was able to talk to him and earn his trust. He couldn’t help but smile._ _

__“Who’s the kid at the door?” the boy asked. “Your boyfriend?”_ _

__Garcia laughed, maybe a little bit too hard for Aaron’s liking, before she said, “No! Not quite my type. This is Aaron. He lost someone recently too.”_ _

__“Yeah? Who?”_ _

__Aaron’s face scrunched up, the pain still fresh. Knowing he couldn’t reveal too much, he simply said, “My high school sweetheart.”_ _

__“Sucks,” they boy said, nodding at Aaron._ _

__Aaron thought to himself how good Garcia was at this, wondering if maybe they should bring her out into the field more often._ _

__She began to talk tech and Aaron let her take the lead until Morgan came in and said the interview was over. The boy looked surprised but thanked them both before his father led him out of the office._ _

__After they left, Aaron walked up to Spencer. “Something is wrong.”_ _

__“What?_ _

__“Yeah,” Garcia agreed. “There was something pathetic about him, not criminal. When he was leaving, he said he misses his mom.”_ _

__“He was scared,” Aaron whispered._ _

__“Of course he was,” Emily offered. “He was being interrogated by FBI agents.”_ _

__“No. He wasn’t scared of us. He was scared of his dad.”_ _

__Everyone looked at Aaron as he said it. “He may not have seemed like it, but he didn’t hide it very well, at least not to me. I don’t think Christopher’s the Unsub. I think his father is.”_ _

__They quickly delved into the family history and came to the conclusion that Christopher’s mother was a victim of Munchausen by Proxy and his father was a EMT. They knew they  
had to find them before the Unsub took the life of his own son._ _

__Luckily, they were able to find them at the chapel where his mother was buried just as Wilson Summers was getting ready to string up his child. They surrounded the building and  
entered as the man was wrapping his hands around his son’s throat. Morgan called out, “FBI!” and Wilson held his hands up as Christopher collapsed to the floor. Aaron darted forward, quickly untying the boy’s hands. _ _

__“I didn’t want to die,” Christopher said, staring at Aaron with sad, pain filled eyes._ _

__“I know,” Aaron said. “I know.”_ _

__As they were flying back to Quantico, Aaron walked up to JJ as she was in the galley. She smiled and said, “Hey, coffee?”_ _

__“Thanks,” he replied. “Just don’t tell Spencer. He’s trying to limit the amount of caffeine I’m drinking.”_ _

__She handed him a small cup and said, “I just want to say thank you. If you hadn’t pushed this with Morgan, we never would have gone.”_ _

__“I trust you and your judgement, JJ. I’m sorry if I’ve ever given you reason to doubt that.”_ _

__“Hotch…”_ _

__“JJ...you don’t have to.”_ _

__She smiled sadly. She told him the story of her sister, her giving JJ her necklace before taking her own life. “It does get better, Hotch,” she said. “Losing someone is never easy, but one day you will remember her and it won’t hurt.” She smiled at him, a hint of tears in her eyes that matched his own. “You’ll be happy.”_ _

__She looked over his shoulder and he saw where she was looking - to where Spencer was talking with Emily. He felt a single tear escape when he looked back at her. JJ reached up, wiping the tear away, just as Aaron whispered, “Thank you. Thank you for everything.”_ _

__She nodded as she walked past him to her seat._ _

__Aaron waited as he collected himself before heading back into the main cabin of the jet. He was making his way over to Spencer when Morgan called his name. Aaron slipped into  
the seat across from the acting Unit Chief._ _

__“How you doing, Hotch?” Morgan asked. When Aaron visibly flinched, he pressed. “Aaron, why do you hate being called Hotch? You have wanted us to call you that from the moment I met you even before I joined the BAU but now you hate it. Tell me what going on, man.”_ _

__He sighed, looking down at his hands before glancing back up to his friend. “My father wanted me to play sports, something manly like football or baseball but I wanted to play soccer. We compromised and he let me run track. I was good and did well. Everyone on the team had nicknames. My best friend Logan started calling me “Hotshot Hotch”. It kinda caught on to the point that only my mama called me Aaron anymore. My father finally showed up to a track meet - county sectionals. I was favored to win in the mile and two mile events. During the mile, I was in the lead and everyone was chanting “Hotshot Hotch! Hotshot Hotch!” It was...amazing.”_ _

__He paused, waiting for the feeling of pain and despair to pass. “That night…” He looked up, hoping he didn’t have to explain. He could feel the weight of the silence in the cabin.  
Luckily, Morgan noticed it too so he just nodded that he understood. “From then on, he called me “Hotshot Hotch” or “Hotch”. He did it to mock me and I didn’t let anyone call me that again, at least not until after he died and I joined SWAT. Hotch was easier to say so it became a thing. It took me a long time not to flinch at it but it still feels fresh, even now.”_ _

__Morgan leaned forward. “You know we’re all here for you, man. If this is too much…”_ _

__“No,” Aaron interrupted. “This is good. This has been good for me.”_ _

__Derek smiled at him. “It’s been good having you here. Weird but good.”_ _

__He chuckled in agreement. “Tell me about it. You’re not the one that’s having to go through puberty again.”_ _

__“Thank God for that.”_ _

__************_ _

__Spencer sighed as he came home to find that Aaron and Jack had, once again, completely destroyed the kitchen._ _

__“Aaron!” he shouted, working hard not to laugh at the twin looks of shock on his and Jack’s faces. “What are you doing this time?”_ _

__Aaron guiltily shrugged as he helped Jack down from the stool the little boy was standing on next to the kitchen counters._ _

__“Aaron,” he prompted._ _

__“Jack was asking me about what life was like, you know when I was the age that I look like now. So…”_ _

__“So..?”_ _

__“So we were making cornbread and greens and Hopping John’s beans and rice and, and…” Jack offered excitedly, suddenly stuck._ _

__Spencer looked at Aaron expectantly._ _

__Aaron smiled, a soft wicked thing that always made Spencer heart skip a bit. “Crawdads?”_ _

__“What?!” Spencer asked as he darted forward to look in the sink. Of course, the left side of his sink was nearly filled to the brim with little creepy, crawling clawed creatures. “You didn’t.”_ _

__“We did!” Jack shouted. “I started to name them but Daddy said you shouldn’t name something you’re going to eat. He was telling me about Ruby.”_ _

__Spencer looked up at Aaron, a unexpected pang of jealousy stinging in his heart. “Who is Ruby?”_ _

__“My lamb,” Aaron whispered._ _

__The genius looked between the two children in his kitchen, wondering if he wanted to hear this or not._ _

__Jack took over the story. “Ruby’s mama was selfish and didn’t want to take care of Ruby. Sometimes mamas do that. Not my mama though. She wanted to take care of me but a bad man took her away, right Dad?”_ _

__“That’s right, Jack.”_ _

__Spencer was mesmerized watching them together like this. Jack was slowly taking on certain aspects of his father’s accent, as if just being around him as Aaron slowly continued to age was the same as them growing up together._ _

__“So Dad took her in,” Jack continued. “Fed her, cleaned her. He would even sleep with her in the barn sometimes.”_ _

__The story stopped so Spencer prompted, “So, what happened?”_ _

__“Ruby grew up and my father wanted to send her to slaughter,” Aaron said, glancing between Jack and Spencer, almost afraid to say more. “I fought him on it. It was the first time I  
fought back...on anything. I ended up in the hospital.”_ _

__Spencer knew then why Aaron had been so freaked out when he woke up in the hospital all those weeks ago. He couldn’t imagine the trauma this boy had been through at such a young age._ _

__“I expected her to be gone once I got home but there she was, waiting for me when I got out of the car with my mother. And there was my father, waiting with a rifle in his hands.”_ _

__Spencer gasped, looking at Jack to see if the young boy understood. The sad look on Jack’s face showed he knew enough. He darted forward, wrapping his little arms around Aaron’s widening waistline as if he knew his Dad needed the comfort._ _

__A single tear streamed down Aaron’s cheek, which he quickly brushed away. “He made me take her out back. I never ate lamb chops again.”_ _

__Aaron reached down and stroked Jack’s hair, soaking in the love of his child. After a moment, he smiled at Spencer. “Anyway, we were talking about my favorite foods from home and Jack wanted to try. There may have been an issue with the cornbread when one of the crawdads made his way out the sink and scared Jack…”_ _

__“...and you too!”_ _

__Aaron huffed before he mock whispered, “Not me really.I just didn’t want Jack to feel bad. But we kinda…”_ _

__Despite himself, Spencer couldn’t help but chuckle, which turned into laughter until all three of them were laughing hysterically. Finally, once they all stopped laughing, Spencer  
said, “Okay. Let’s see what we can salvage for dinner.”_ _

__He couldn’t help but smile as they all got moving, fixing dinner and having a nice evening. It felt good, felt like family._ _

__*************_ _

__Spencer looked up and smiled at Aaron from the other side of the bullpen. Aaron was growing steadily, now looking nearly seventeen years old. He’d been helpful on several cases but it was still odd sometimes dealing with other law enforcement or dealing with families from cases they had dealt with in the past. Sarah Hillridge was a perfect example. When Aimee Lynch went missing, the mother of Charlie had shown up, hoping to find answers to the disappearance of her son. But the team knew that they would have a lot of explaining to do if the woman had seen Aaron as he was now. It wouldn’t be too much of a stretch to see that this boy was the former Unit Chief with his strong brow, dark eyes and hair._ _

__They worked hard to let Aaron help work the case without running into the woman. But knowing that Aimee was out there, most likely alive, along with other children, made Aaron insist on being involved. He knew, somehow knew, that Aimee was still alive and that Charlie, most likely the same age as himself, and they would do everything they could to find them._ _

__Once they realized how many families there were out there, that had lost children in this fashion, it became obvious that they had at least of team of Unsubs working together to make their own version of a family. Aaron flinched thinking about what they could be doing to the children. His mind kept flashing back to the need to control a child like that._ _

__“Managing that many children isn’t easy,” he said, staring out at the families gathered down in the bullpen below. “There have to be incidents where things didn’t go as planned. We should start with domestic calls and disturbances. Concentrate on families who were visited by social services, where parents talked their way out of the accusations. It’s likely these Unsubs have been questioned before. Once we narrow down a list, we should revisit them.”_ _

__They all agreed and right before Spencer slipped away to get the list from Garcia, he dropped a hand on Aaron’s shoulder, giving it a small squeeze in support before rushing off. He only hoped Aaron would be okay once they found the children._ _

__They split up, going door to door, talking to people who had purposely hurt their own children in one way or another. Each family Aaron talked to took on toll on him. Several times he flinched or clenched his fists tight, worried that he might hurt one of the people they spoke with. It was all too familiar._ _

__Once they got a call from Emily, they rushed to find the children, one way or another._ _

__In the end, they were lucky. Charlie shot the woman who had tormented him for the better part of his life while the man had hung himself. Bringing the families together with their lost children or giving them closure was one of things that made everything they went through worth it._ _

__Aaron watched as Sarah went into the roundtable room to speak with JJ, Emily and Garcia. He sidled up next to Charlie, bumping him lightly with his elbow. When Charlie turned to look at him, Aaron smiled._ _

__“You’re a strong kid,” he said. “You should be very proud of what you’ve done today.”_ _

__“If I’m so strong, why did I help them,” Charlie said, his voice so quiet he could hardly be heard. “So many kids. They would come and go and I never really knew, but I did, you know? I knew they were killing them.”_ _

__“You couldn’t know,” Aaron said softly, kindly. “You were just a child.”_ _

__Charlie nodded, the silence stretching out between them._ _

__“What did it feel like?” Aaron asked._ _

__“What?”_ _

__“KIlling her. Ending it. What did it feel like?”_ _

__Charlie smiled, just an upturn of one side of his mouth. “Like victory. Relief. Like I was happy for the first time since they took me.”_ _

__Aaron nodded, wishing he could have known that feeling. He turned to face the boy, making sure he maintained eye contact. “It _will_ get easier, you know? You’ll want to be angry and closed off, to never want to talk about it. But that won’t make it better. That’ll make it worse. You’ll spend all your time thinking of what you could have done, how you could have stopped them. But you couldn’t. You were just a kid. They should have taken care of you, not hurt you. This is not your fault.”_ _

__“How...how do you know?”_ _

__Aaron smiled a soft, sad smile._ _

__Charlie just nodded back._ _

__“Your mom. She never stopped looking for you.”_ _

__He nodded again._ _

__Aaron reached up and patted him on the shoulder as he went to move away._ _

__“Charlie?” Sarah called as she walked forward before she stopped and smiled at Hotch. “I’m sorry. I didn’t get your name.”_ _

__Aaron turned and smiled wide, hoping it would keep her from recognizing him. “I’m Aaron, ma’am. Take care of him now, yeah?”_ _

__Sarah nodding, thankfully not showing any spark of recognition. “Yeah. Thank you.”_ _

__Aaron wandered off, heading toward the breakroom. He leaned against the counter, a cup of coffee firmly in his hand. He lost himself in his thoughts until Spencer walked in._ _

__“How are you doing?” Spencer asked, pulling Aaron from the pull of his circular thoughts._ _

__Aaron smiled at him softly. “I’m...I’ve been better.”_ _

__“Ready to go home?”_ _

__“Can we pick up Jack on the way?”_ _

__“If you want.”_ _

__Aaron nodded. He needed that time with his son, to connect with something, someone to make him feel whole again._ _

__Spencer smiled. “I’ll go talk to Morgan.”_ _

__They left then, silently heading toward Aaron’s car that Spencer was still driving. They got in and began to drive toward Jessica’s to pick up Jack. Finally, Spencer looked over at Aaron who was slumped against the passenger side window._ _

__“Are you okay?” he asked quietly._ _

__Aaron waited until the car began to move again and Spencer couldn’t look at him. “No,” he answered softly. When Spencer didn’t push him or ask for more information, he continued, “How do people do this to children? I’ve lived through this, seen it up close and personal, but I still can’t understand it. It’s been years but it feels like yesterday. I mean, I’ve got to be seventeen or close to eighteen by now but I remember it. I remember it all.”_ _

__It was quiet in the cabin and Spencer fought for something to say. “It’s funny,” Aaron continued. “We put such a emphasis on the glory of youth but things never got good for me  
until I grew up, until I got out. How weird is that it took making me a kid again to realize how much I have now or will have once I’m back to being me?”_ _

__Spencer turned to see Aaron staring at him with an intense look on his face. “Being a teenager again made me realize that I can’t sit back and just let things happen anymore. Life’s too short to sit back and wonder what could have been.”_ _

__Spencer shuddered until the scrutiny, feeling the dark eyes nearly boring into him. He was about to say something when his phone rang. He answered the phone, putting it on speaker right away._ _

__“Dr. Reid. It’s Dr. Kimura.”_ _

__“Yes Doctor!” Spencer greeted excitedly. He hadn’t heard from her in a several days and he was interested in an update. “I have Aaron here with me now.”_ _

__“Oh good,” she said, an obvious smile in her voice. “I’m sure you’ll both be glad to hear that I’ve made a sort of breakthrough.”_ _

__“Really?!” Aaron shouted a little too loudly._ _

__Dr. Kimura chuckled. “Yes. It took a while but yesterday one of my assistants noted that there appeared to be some sort of protein that had attached itself to your white blood  
cells. It is causing the cells to speed up their production. Normally white blood cells assist in healing. This protein caused a different reaction. The healing was happening so fast that it actually is reversing the aging process. As these proteins age, so does the host, namely you, Agent Hotchner. If I can develop a way to remove the protein, it should reverse the process. If not, they will eventually wear off and you would return to your normal age.”_ _

__“How long will that take?” Aaron asked, a little frustrated._ _

__“At they rate you are aging now? It could take up to a year.”_ _

__“Fuck!” Aaron gasped, flopping back down against the car seat. Spencer smiled slightly, reaching over pat the young man on his knee._ _

__“How much longer do you think this could take?” Spencer asked._ _

__“Now that we know the makeup of the protein, we can work out the compound that is keeping it attached to the blood cells. But we will have to do some clinical trials before we  
attempt the process on Agent Hotchner. If we get it wrong, it could actually reactivate the protein and cause the de-aging process to start all over again.”_ _

__Aaron was all but curled in on himself in the passenger’s seat, staring sullenly out the window. Spencer sighed and thanked the doctor after offering any help he could possibly  
give her. Once he hung up, he cleared his throat, waiting for Aaron’s full attention. When the teen continued to stare moodily out the window, he spoke out loud. _ _

__“That’s good news, Aaron.”_ _

__The boy simply grunted back._ _

__“They know what is causing it. Maybe now they will find a way to reverse it.”_ _

__“When!?” Aaron shouted too loud in the car. “I hate this! I hate these memories and these stupid emotions. I hate feeling like this and not being able to do jack-shit about it! I wanna drink and I wanna drive and I wanna be me again. I know you want me but you won’t do shit about it until I’m older and I’m tired of waiting. Jesus, Spensah, I’ve beat off more in the last few weeks than I have in the last goddamned year!”_ _

__Spencer blushed. He knew Aaron wasn’t exaggerating. The boy made sure Spencer knew what he was doing when, even if he did his best not to let Jack know what was happening. But grey sweatpants and walking around in just boxer briefs didn’t leave much to the imagination. It seemed as if as Aaron began to re-age, the stronger his libido grew. Even for a seventeen or eighteen year old boy, Aaron was beyond sexually frustrated._ _

__“Aaron,” he whispered, gently placing a hand on the boy’s thigh. “It’ll happen. We just have to give it time.”_ _

__“But...but you won’t even…”_ _

__“Not yet, okay. I can’t. Not yet.”_ _

__“But my body is almost eighteen now.”_ _

__“Give me some time, okay?”_ _

__Aaron huffed as he grumbled. “At least this time it’s not a no.”_ _

__They drove the rest of the way in silence until they were at Jessica’s place. When they stepped inside, Jack ran forward to hug Spencer first before launching himself into Aaron’s  
arms. The teen couldn't help but laugh as he hauled the boy up into his arms and hugged him tight. _ _

__“You okay, Dad?” Jack asked, placing his tiny palms against Aaron’s cheeks, looking him in the eyes. “You have sad eyes.”_ _

__Aaron chuckled softly. He knew better than to try to get something like this past the little boy. Jack really did take after him after all. “It was a rough case, that’s all.”_ _

__“But we did get some good news, Jack,” Spencer said with a smile. “The doctor who is trying to help us made a breakthrough in the case and we might be able to get your dad back in just a few weeks.”_ _

__“Really?” Jack asked excitedly._ _

__Aaron smiled softly. His disappointment was his son’s happiness. “Really. But it won’t happen right away.”_ _

__“That’s okay. I like having Spencer staying with us. If you go back to being old, Spencer will go back to his house, right?.”_ _

__Aaron turned a wicked look at Spencer. “Well, maybe after I get back to being old, we can talk to Spencer and convince him to stay.”_ _

__Jack’s eyes flew wide open as he turned to Spencer. “Really?” he asked. “That would be awesome!”_ _

__“Right?!” Aaron crowed back. “Know what else would be awesome?”_ _

__“Pizza?” Jack asked._ _

__“Yeah!”_ _

__They both continued to stare at Spencer who was frozen in shock. He was being ganged up on by the two Hotchner men and he didn’t know how to handle it._ _

__“What?” he asked._ _

__“Can we get pizza tonight?” Aaron asked._ _

__“Please?” Jack added, a small pout on his face._ _

__Spencer knew immediately that these two were going to be the death of him._ _

__“Oh boy,” Jessica said as she directly them to the front door. “You are so screwed with those two.”_ _

__Spencer just shook his head. “Don’t I know it.”_ _

__*************_ _

__Pizza had been bought. Cookie dough had been added on for good measure. Spencer knew Aaron was having a difficult time dealing with everything - the cases, the situation with Jack and Spencer living in his home, his own body with all the hormones and everything else. He was going out of his way to try and make things easier for Aaron. Unfortunately, Aaron wasn’t making things easier for him._ _

__They ate the pizza and as Spencer set about making the cookies, he could hear Aaron and Jack singing in the living room. Setting the timer on the stove, Spencer walked out, stopping at the doorway and leaning against the doorframe to watch surreptitiously. There in the middle of the living room, were Jack and Aaron, dancing around, attempting to sing “Oh Far Better to Live and Die”. Aaron was wearing a rather impressive pirate hat that Spencer was sure he’d seen hidden somewhere around the house before while Jack had on his own handmade hat fashioned from some folded newspaper. They were romping around the small living space while the music played loudly from the speakers in the corner of the room. Spencer wondered where Aaron had found the soundtrack for the musical but he was having too much fun watching them singing “Huzzah for the Pirate King!” while they bounced from couch to chair to the floor and back that he let the thought go. They had a mock duel with what looked like the paper tubes from rolls of wrapping paper until Jack got a little too rambunctious and bent his own in half._ _

__“Dang it!” Jack yelled, upset that he had broke his sword._ _

__“It’s okay, Jack,” Aaron said. “We’re done.”_ _

__“Why?!” the young boy cried, sad that his play time with his father was over._ _

__“Because I believe the cookies are ready,” he turned and smiled that infuriating smile at him. “Isn’t that right, Spensah?”_ _

__Spencer was startled out of his trance. “What?” he asked._ _

__“Cookies. The timer is going off.”_ _

_Just then, Spencer heard the chiming of the alarm, knowing that he had been so lost watching the two of them that he risked burning the treats he prepared for the boys. “Oh,_  
yeah!” he jumped from his spot in the doorway before hurrying into the kitchen, quickly turning off the timer and pulling the tray of cookies out of the oven. Luckily, he had  
caught them in time before they burned.

__Jack reached up to grab one but Spencer stopped him just before he touched it. “Not yet, Jack,” he said kindly. “They have to cool a little before you can eat them.”_ _

__“How long?” Jack complained as he grumpily crossed his arms over his chest and scowled, so much like his father._ _

__“Five minutes,” Spencer said as he set the timer on the stove. “I’m setting the timer and as soon as it goes off you can have one. Is that okay?”_ _

__Jack thought for a moment before he nodded decisively. “Okay.”_ _

__Spencer fought to keep from laughing at the earnest boy. “You watch that. I’m going to go tell your dad.”_ _

__Jack ignored him in favor of staring at the timer as the numbers slowly and steadily counted down until he could have some chocolatey chip goodness. Spencer chuckled as he left the kitchen in search of the other Hotchner male. He smiled when he saw Aaron leaning up against the wall just outside the kitchen, arms crossed over his chest and a wicked  
smile on his face._ _

__“I didn’t know you could sing,” Spencer said, a little shocked to realized how close Aaron was standing near him._ _

__“Well, I never claim to be very good,” Aaron said with a smile. ‘It was a well known fact that I was the worst Pirate Number Four in the history of high school musicals.”_ _

__Spencer smiled at him. “I don’t know about that. You seemed pretty good to me.”_ _

__“Well, you are comparing me to Jack so that isn’t saying a lot.”_ _

__Aaron leaned in, slowly breaching the distance between them. Spencer backed up, countering as the boy moved in._ _

__“Aaron,” he whispered as his back hit the wall behind him. “Don’t…”_ _

__“I know,” the boy said as he began to lean in, bringing his hands up to brace against the wall on either side of Spencer’s head, boxing him in. “You can’t. But I want you to know  
that I am here, I will be here despite what happens. I want you, Spencer Reid, this age or not. Don’t think I’m letting you go anywhere, no matter how long it takes for me to get back to the right age.”_ _

__Spencer gasped as the boy leaned in, pressing his lips to Spencer’s own. They were soft and warm and when Aaron pressed, Spencer whined in need. He was breathing hard and began to part his lips just as a warm, wet tongue peeked out to lick at the seam when he heard a soft cry of, “Ewww, kissing!” from behind them. He jerked away, suddenly brought back to himself and what was happening. He looked around in time to see Jack standing in the doorway, a large cookie in his hand and chocolate smeared on his face.  
“Cookies are ready!” he declared before turning and running back into the kitchen. _ _

__“Aaron,” he chastised as he glared at the smirking teen._ _

__“Pirate Number Four,” Aaron said as he moved away to follow his son into the kitchen. “Works every time.”_ _

__As he was left standing alone, Spencer yelled after him, “Twice! It’s worked twice!” He shook his head as he began to head for the kitchen and some much needed treats._ _

__“Twice is all I need,” Aaron tossed back, chuckling as he shoved a cookie in his mouth as he leaned temptingly against the kitchen counter._ _

__Spencer rolled his eyes despite the stirring in his jeans. He was so screwed._ _

__*************_ _

__The next several weeks were a challenge for everyone involved. Aaron was growing steadily, aging from seventeen into eighteen rather quickly but just as Aaron had before, that age proved a time of big physical changes for the boy, only instead of the growth spurts happening over several months to a year, they were happening in the span of weeks. Aaron would wake Spencer up in the middle, crying out in pain as his legs would ache, his knees and shins throbbing in pain as they grew and stretched while he slept. Because of the disruption of his sleeping schedule, Aaron grew more and more surly, to the point that he was snapping at everyone, including Spencer and Jack._ _

__There were other changes happening as well. Aaron’s voice dropped dramatically, taking the tenor timber it had adopted in his youth to a more well-rounded, deeper baritone much like what they were all used to. Where he had been smooth-skinned, he was now growing thick, dark hair over his arms, legs and chest._ _

__Aaron’s hair had begun to grow out as well and when Spencer had suggested he get it cut, Aaron lashed out, complaining that if Spencer could leave his hair long, then there was no reason why Aaron couldn’t as well._ _

__The teen’s moods had grown so sour that Morgan had decided to ground him, worried that Aaron would start to cause problems with the other agencies or even with the Unsubs themselves. He was assigned to work point with Garcia, but not before Aaron complained loudly about the unfair treatment he felt he was getting._ _

__Despite his extreme displeasure, it turned out that Aaron and Penelope worked quite well together. This was especially evident from the case in Tallahassee. For once, Aaron didn’t complain about not going with the rest of the team. He’d declared if he never went back to Florida, it would be too soon. The idea of a Unsub keeping women as his own personal slaves was something that Aaron would never be able to understand but knowing that commemorated them on his own skin was just a step too far for Aaron._ _

__He had helped Penelope with identifying the covered tattoos and eventually helped them locate Rebecca before she died in the isolated home, cradling a small orphan in her arms. Despite the losses, it felt good to help and Aaron smiled as he left the Technical Analyst’s lair._ _

__The next case came right on the heels of the last one. From Florida to Alaska, it was a wild change for everyone. Morgan had announced that Aaron and Garcia would be going with them. Garcia because she was needed to maintain the satellite uplink and Aaron because he couldn't be left alone. Besides,. Aaron was one of the only ones who had lived in the country and could be of help when it came to looking for an Unsub in the wilderness._ _

__It was weird having all of them in the cabin of the jet as they discussed the case on the long flight. The jet couldn’t make it into the remote area so they had to come in by puddle-jumper. Morgan quickly distributed duties, sending Aaron into town to work victimology with JJ. It was small, quaint town with a small population. It almost reminded Aaron of home except instead of being surrounded by mountains, it was surrounded by water._ _

__Aaron was glad that he was nearly back to his regular size so he could actually pack and fit into his own clothes. He was sure to pack the clothes he normally wore when he went camping, although it had been a while since Jack was still too young to camp and hike._ _

__Garcia quickly made herself at home in the Inn and Aaron couldn’t help but smile. It seemed like every time they brought her along, she proved to be invaluable. Once they all got together for the evening, they were shocked to discover that there were only four rooms available which meant they would have to share._ _

__“I am not sleeping with Reid,” Morgan blurted, as Spencer turned and glared at him._ _

__“Dibs,” Garcia said as she laid a hand on Morgan’s own._ _

__In the end, Rossi had claimed his age meant he should get his own room and the remaining girls immediately paired up. That meant Spencer and Aaron were left with the last  
room. They grabbed their bags and walked into the small room, and while it was cozy and well kept, it was small. Spencer groaned at the single queen size bed in the center of the room. _ _

__Aaron walked in and dumped his bags on the floor before he flopped down on the middle of the bed._ _

__“Took long enough but it looks like we are finally going to get to sleep together.” He winked up at the glaring genius as he brought his arms up, resting his head in his hands._ _

__Spencer groaned loudly. “I’ll take the floor.”_ _

__“Like hell you are,” Aaron complained as he sat up, matching Spencer’s glare with one of his own. “I will behave myself.” When Spencer gave him a look of disbelief, he held up his hands. “Promise.”_ _

__They quickly got ready for bed, Spencer using the bathroom first for his nightly routine then Aaron. The teen was a little upset that it was still so cold here. He had hoped to show off a little bit of flesh as he got ready for bed but the chill in the air negated his ability to walk around half naked. Instead, he settled for wearing a skin tight FBI Academy t-shirt and form fitting grey sweatpants. He knew he looked good and did his best to make Spencer see it too. He wandered around the room, doing his best to make sure he was noticed. Finally upset that he was being ignored, Aaron walked toward the door._ _

__“Mind if I turn down the lights?”_ _

__Spencer looked up. He was sure he caught look of want flash behind his glasses before the genius shook his head and went back to the papers in his lap._ _

__“Not at all,” he said quietly. “Just leave the one on my side on please.”_ _

__Aaron turned the bank of lights out, letting the room be partially swallowed in the nighttime darkness. He crawled into bed on the opposite side, stretching out and trying to make himself look as tempting as possible. When Spencer refused to look, he rolled over onto his side, propping his head in his hand as he tried to see what the other man was working on._ _

__“What’cha doing?” he asked, a small teasing lilt in his voice. “I thought we all agreed to get some rest tonight. That was one bitch of a flight.”_ _

__“I’m writing my mother if you must know,” Spencer answered._ _

__“About me?” Aaron was intrigued, wanting to know what the genius might be telling his mother about their sleeping arrangements._ _

__“Not necessarily about you. I like to tell her what is going on. Right now, I’m telling her about Alaska and this little town. I think she would like it.”_ _

__“Do you?” Aaron asked._ _

__“Do I what?”_ _

__“Do you like it?”_ _

__Spencer looked down, surprised to see Aaron’s face right next to his leg, hovering a little too close to his crotch. This Aaron was beginning to look a little too much like the Aaron that Spencer wanted with his dark eyes and hair, his broad chest and shoulders. That smirk though, that was all teenage Aaron, and why that was becoming so much a problem was really bothering Spencer. He’d vowed to be strong, to not do anything with Hotch until he was back at his rightful age, but Aaron certainly wasn’t making it easy._ _

__“Do I like what?” Spencer asked, not even remembering what he was talking about anymore._ _

__Aaron snorted a laugh, the smirk on his face looking rather self-satisfied._ _

__“Tell me what you’re writing your mom.”_ _

__Spencer looked over at Aaron. The boy looked relaxed where he was laying, eyes closed and cheek resting on Spencer’s thigh. He sighed as he looked down at the page beneath his pen._ _

__“This place, though very different from who I am, stirs something in me,” he started, writing and talking as he went. “The cold and unknown may frighten me but it pulls at a piece of me that I didn’t know existed. I’ve never been to Alaska, never felt any need or desire to be here and yet, now that I am here, I wonder why I have resisted. I’m reminded of the words of John Muir as I look out at the expanse of this place._ _

__“This grand show is eternal. It is always sunrise somewhere; the dew is never all died at once; a shower is forever falling; vapor is ever rising. Eternal sunrise, eternal sunset, eternal dawn and gloaming, on sea and continents and islands, each in its turn, as the round earth rolls.”_ _

__Spencer looked down to the spot where the boy was teasing the skin of his leg through a small hole in his sleep pants. It was a simple thing, just a touch of fingertip to flesh but it inflamed him and Spencer only hoped he could reign in his passion before things got out of control._ _

__“It is beautiful in that it is wild and untamable, even though those are the things that frighten me. I like things to be neat and in order, categorizable. But this is not. I feel like so much lately has been out of my control. I seem to love and hate it in equal measure and I’m not sure what to do with that. But as a man of science, the unknown is necessary for change and discovery. Maybe that is what I need - to make a change, to seek a new discovery, give in to something new.”_ _

__He glanced down, not at all surprised to see dark, hooded eyes staring back at him. He froze, unable to look away as Aaron braced himself on his elbow and began to rise, slowly, as if he was afraid if he moved too fast he would spook Spencer like some sort of woodland creature, forcing him to run away into the night._ _

__He wouldn’t be wholly wrong in that assumption._ _

__A sudden scream broke the spell they seemed to be under as it pulled them from this magical moment and back into the reality of their lives. They were on a case and it seemed someone needed them. They both softly cursed as they jumped off the bed and began to haphazardly pull on clothes to go find out what had happened._ _

__They bolted outside, followed by the rest of the team, to where Garcia was poised over the body, crying out into the night. They started talking about what this Unsub could be trying to do. It was bold, him killing right outside the place where they were staying. Rossi complained that the guy was taunting them, but that didn’t feel right to Aaron.  
“I think you’re giving him more credit than he deserves,” Aaron offered. “It’s like Emily said on the plane, he’s all over the place. The victimology’s inconsistent, the methodology’s evolving, the first kill was sloppy, hesitant and unplanned.”_ _

__“It was an accident,” Emily postulated. “But it triggered a sexual response. He got off on it.”_ _

__“And he knew then and there he had to kill again,” Morgan said sadly. “He learned how to get the job done more efficiently.”_ _

__“But why the organs?” the Sheriff asked._ _

__“Consumption typically indicates a desire to keep the victim with them,” Spencer said as he stepped forward. “He’s having trouble letting go. We’re probably looking for someone  
with severe abandonment issues.”_ _

__Aaron’s mind was running on overdrive. There was something there, something important, he could feel it. He turned to the Sheriff and asked, “You said there was a bear  
mutilating game just outside of town?”_ _

__“Yeah,” the older man confirmed. “Been at it for a couple of weeks now. We’ve been keeping an eye out, trying to keep it out of town.”_ _

__“Has anyone actually _seen_ the bear?”_ _

__Spencer turned quickly to look at the teen. “What are you thinking?”_ _

__“Severe abandonment issues, inconsistent victimology, evolving methodology with a growing sexual element and now animal mutilations. What does that sound like?”_ _

__“A teenager?” Spencer gasped._ _

__“You think a kid did that?” the Sheriff asked._ _

__“It fits,” Rossi offered. “Most serial killers start with animal experimentation before graduating to actual human beings. Where does leave us?”_ _

__They all turned to Morgan._ _

__“With a kid to find.”_ _

__They stood around inside the tavern, trying to figure out who could fit the pattern. Aaron, Spencer and the Sheriff went out to talk to the schoolteacher to see if she could come up with someone who fit the pattern. Her first instinct was to name Joshua Beardsley. Aaron shook his head. It didn’t feel right. There was something else – something they were missing. They piled into the Jeep to head back to the tavern but Aaron couldn’t shake the feeling that they were missing an important piece of the puzzle._ _

__“We have to go back out there, talk to the teacher,” Aaron said. “We’re missing something.”_ _

__Just then the satellite phone rang. “They arrested Joshua Beardsley?!” Garcia shrieked into Aaron’s ear._ _

__“Did they?” he asked. “I’m sure it was just for his protection.”_ _

__“It wasn’t him,” Penelope protested. “I know it wasn’t. He wouldn’t have run from me. He knows I’m a techy and I don’t carry a gun. He would have killed me too. Hotch…”_ _

__“Okay, Garcia. I believe you but if you want to clear this kid and convince everyone else, you’ve gotta find me something. Something that clears him. “_ _

__“Yes. Yes, okay, yes. I’m on it. Garcia out.”_ _

__Aaron smiled as he put down the antenna on the phone._ _

__“If it’s out there, she’ll find it,” Spencer said, trying to sound reassuring._ _

__“I hope you’re right,” Aaron said. “If he’s going to stay on schedule, he’ll attack again tonight.”_ _

__They were on the road. nearly back to the tavern when she called back._ _

__“Go ahead, Garcia.”_ _

__“I found something Uber weird in Joshua’s college application essay,” she started. “He talks about the impact that being an older brother had on his life.”_ _

__Aaron frowned. “I thought he didn’t have any siblings?”_ _

__“He doesn’t and yet he was talking about how hard it was to leave him behind when he moved to Anchorage, to leave him unprotected.”_ _

__Aaron sighed. There it was – the missing connection he was looking for. “Thanks,” he said as he hung up. He turned to the Sheriff and Spencer. “We need to go back and talk to the schoolteacher.”_ _

__When they made it back to talk to her, she knew exactly who they were asking about._ _

__“Owen Porter,” she said with a sad look in her eyes. “He’s not a student anymore. He’s home-schooled.”_ _

__The Sheriff looked at the two agents. “I’ve been called out to the Porter house several times. Domestic disturbances. Owen and his mom always covering for the dad.”_ _

__Aaron and Spencer locked eyes. They knew – this was it._ _

__“Let’s go.”_ _

__Spencer watched Aaron with trepidation all the way to the Porter home. He could see the way the muscles in Aaron’s jaw ticked as the teen clenched and unclenched his jaw in  
anticipation of the confrontation at the Unsub’s home. When they got there, they burst in through the door and both Owen’s parents stood, startled. While Spencer and the Sheriff went looking for Owen, Aaron confronted the parents._ _

__“Turn that off!” Aaron commanded as he pointed at the television. The mousy looking woman stared at him in fear. “Did you know?” he asked._ _

__“What?”_ _

__“Did you know?!” Aaron nearly shouted, his anger pouring from every pore._ _

__Owen’s father scoffed at him, regarding him with disdain. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”_ _

__Suddenly, Owen’s mother looked at Aaron. “Not for sure. Not until last night. He came home covered in blood.”_ _

__The husband tried to stop her from saying more so Aaron pushed, “It wasn’t the first time you washed blood out of his clothes, was it?”_ _

__When she paused, the husband threatened, “Don’t answer them, Martha.”_ _

__Aaron has overwhelmed, unable to take it any longer. His head whipped around as he shouted at the man, “SIT DOWN AND SHUT UP!” The look of shock and fear that came over the man’s face felt good but Aaron wasn’t done. He looked back at the woman. “I promise you he will not lay another hand on you again.”_ _

__“No. It wasn’t the first time.”_ _

__“Mrs. Porter, I understand you’re only trying to protect Owen, but you can’t anymore.”_ _

__That was all it took. Soon the woman was spilling their secrets like spoilt milk. She told them about how Owen would go out into the woods and come home covered in blood, how  
angry he was when Joshua left. Spencer was shocked, asking how they could isolate the boy in that way. All she could say was they were afraid of what he would do if he were released into the world._ _

__Owen had slipped out the back and escaped into the woods. Several of the townspeople had gathered and were working to bring Owen in – dead or alive. As he stared down the mother, Aaron was able to get an idea of where the boy might be headed. He called the rest of the team and told them that Owen was most likely on his way to the dock._ _

__Before they left the house, Aaron stood frozen in the center of the living room, staring down the two dysfunctional, culpable parents while Spencer and the Sheriff waited in the  
doorway._ _

__“You did this,” he near growled._ _

__“Aaron…” Spencer tried, pulling on the teen’s arm. Aaron easily swatted him away._ _

__“You don’t know me,” the father snapped back._ _

__He froze when Aaron started to laugh. “You think I don’t know you?” he said as he stalked forward, forcing the man to sit down in his chair. Aaron loomed over him. “I know all about you. I lived with a man like you. I know that you drink too much at night despite the fact that you promised just that morning to stop. I know that you yell and bluster and you bring your family to tears and even though it scares you, terrifies you and makes you sick to your stomach to see that look of terror on their faces, you just can’t stop yourself. I know you hit with your hands because later when you flex your fingers and feel that pain, you’re glad for it because you think you deserve it. And I know that no matter how  
much you want to, you won’t stop, you can’t stop because you hate them just as much as you hate yourself.”_ _

__Eyes wide, Mr. Porter sputtered, unable to get a single word out as Aaron turned and stalked out of the house without another look back._ _

__*************_ _

__The team was able to find Owen and protect him before the mob hunting him was able to get to him. He was brought in without incident and everyone was happy that the case was over. By the time they had Owen in custody and all of the men involved in the hunting party interrogated and released it was nearly dusk. Morgan called to see if there was any way for them to get of town and back to the jet but he was informed there was no way to get out before morning._ _

__“Looks like one more night here, guys. Sorry,” he apologized._ _

__The team grumbled but eventually understood that sometimes they were bound by the situation around them. They had a nice dinner together, Joshua and his mother joining them, before Derek suggested they all head to bed so they could get an early jump on the day at first light._ _

__Climbing the stairs to their rooms, they all separated, heading to their own rooms. Aaron could hear several of them talking about him as walked ahead of the team but he honestly didn’t care. He was exhausted, both emotionally and mentally and it was taking its toll on him physically. It felt like every step was a chore, as if he had weights in his shoes. He stopped, leaning against the door, waiting for Spencer to unlock the door._ _

__Once they were inside, he went about removing first his shoes, then his socks. Every movement felt like an effort._ _

__Spencer walked over, stopping right in front of him. When Aaron refused to look up, Spencer knew something was very wrong. He knelt down so he was at Aaron’s eye level. He forced the teen to meet his eyes, softening his gaze when Aaron finally focused on him. He smiled softly, not really expecting a response._ _

__“Why don’t you shower first,” he suggested softly. “We’ll get a good night’s rest and things will feel better tomorrow.”_ _

__“Sure,” Aaron mumbled, his eyes downcast once again. Spencer helped him stand, assisting the boy in pulling his shirt over head before directing him toward the shower. Aaron was in and out in no time, hair damp as he emerged from the bathroom in a plume of steam, his shirt clinging to him as if he hadn’t even bothered to dry off before slipping his sleep clothes on. He walked up to the bed and flopped down in the middle, eyes staring blankly up at the ceiling. Spencer just shook his head and went into the bathroom to take his own shower._ _

__As he scrubbed up and washed his hair, Spencer thought about the day they’d had and the craziness of the case. He knew Aaron’d had a difficult time, especially confronting Mr. Porter. Spencer figured part of it must have felt somewhat cathartic for the teen but it could not have been easy. Aaron had been quiet all through dinner and not even tried to get under Spencer’s skin by loudly masturbating in the shower or parading around mostly naked._ _

__It was a bit troubling._ _

__He got out of the shower and quickly dried off, itching to get back to the boy and make sure he was alright. When Spencer emerged from the bathroom, he was shocked to see Aaron in the exact same place where he left him._ _

__“Aaron?” He called quietly._ _

__“Yeah?” Aaron whispered back._ _

__“You okay?”_ _

__A soft grunt was his only reply._ _

__“Mind if I turn off the lights?”_ _

__Another grunt._ _

__Spencer switched off the light before heading toward his side of the bed. He pulled up the covers, gently prodding the boy, trying to get him off the covers and underneath them.  
After a few attempts, Aaron finally scrambled beneath the heavy blankets before curling up on his side as far away from Spencer as he could. _ _

__Spencer could feel the chill clinging to the boy’s skin from where he had refused to dry himself before laying uncovered in the chilly hotel room._ _

__“You’re so cold,” he said into the darkness. “Do you want me to get another blanket?”_ _

__There was no answer but a soft shaking of the bed made him think that Aaron had shook his head “no”._ _

__“Can I help?”_ _

__Another shake._ _

__“Do you wanna talk?”_ _

__Another._ _

__“Aaron,” he said, his voice soft but concerned. “I want to help. Please talk to me.”_ _

__“Can’t.”_ _

__The voice strained, like a whine from an injured animal. Spencer suddenly realized that Aaron was fighting not to cry from the emotional overload. He reached out and began to  
pull on the teen’s arm._ _

__“Come on.”_ _

__“No,” Aaron fought._ _

__“I’m not fighting you over this, Aaron. Come here.”_ _

__The boy finally gave in and rolled over. Spencer reached out, wrapping his arms around the trembling shoulders and as soon as Aaron’s face landed on Spencer’s chest, he began  
to weep. Long, heaving cries that left him breathless from one to the next. He clung to the shirt beneath his cheek as he purged all of the torturous emotions that had surrounding for the last few days, maybe even weeks or years. Spencer rubbed and rocked, doing his best to help give the boy strength as he worked through it all. He didn’t bother to try to placate him with simple words that would mean nothing in the end. Aaron needed this - needed to work this out and once all the emotions were spent, he fell into a frightful sleep, still cradled in Spencer’s arms._ _

__They lay there that way, Aaron softly breathing and crying while Spencer watched over him until sleep finally pulled him under as well._ _

__*************_ _

__He woke slowly, the early morning light just beginning to pierce through the curtains and splaying out across the bed. Aaron’s head hurt something fierce and his mouth felt extremely dry. He wondered what he had done that night before that got him to this point but he couldn’t quite place it._ _

__The body beneath his cheek groaned and shifted and Aaron suddenly realized he was being held in a tight, warm embrace. He looked up, surprised to see the relaxed, sleeping face of Dr. Spencer Reid above him, waves of chestnut hair fanning out on the pillow._ _

__He remembered the night before now - the melancholy that he just couldn’t shake, the weight of it all crashing down on him, suffocating him, making him feel like he was drowning and would never find his way to the surface. He hadn’t felt that way in a long time and he certainly hadn’t cried about it like he had._ _

___Real men don’t cry_ , his father had always said. But Aaron knew different now._ _

__He dropped his head back down and closed his eyes, just listening to the beat of Spencer’s heart, to the cadence of his breathing. This is something that he’d wanted for a long time, longer than he’d been willing to admit even to himself before he’d been dipped in the spring. But now that he was here, he was afraid to do anything to jeopardize any chance they might have at a future._ _

__Aaron had done everything he could to tempt Spencer into just taking him. He liked this young body and worried that when he was back to his regular age that he would be a disappointment. But Spencer had remained strong and a part of Aaron could appreciate that, no matter how sexually frustrating it was._ _

__He was tempted to touch and taste now that Spencer was asleep and unable to stop him, but he knew that might be a step too far, a line crossed that he could never take back. Instead, he laid there, quiet and still and did his best to memorize the beat of Spencer’s heart._ _

__A groan and a shift startled Aaron. He was surprised that he had fallen back to sleep. Normally, once he was awake, that was it but his fragmented mental state probably didn’t help. Spencer was slowly beginning to wake and Aaron wondered what he should do. In the end, he decided to just stay where he was._ _

__Finally, Spencer stretched and yawned, but kept an arm wrapped around Aaron’s back, holding him in place. Aaron snuggled down into the warm chest, happy to be cradled and treated like something special. A small kiss was pressed to the top of his head, buried in the fluffy locks before Spencer croaked, “Morning, Aaron.”_ _

__He smiled at the sleepy voice, rubbing his cheek against the soft cotton t-shirt. “Morning, Spensah.”_ _

__He could feel the smile pressed to his head and he couldn’t help but answer with one of his own._ _

__“How are you feeling?” Spencer asked._ _

__Aaron thought for a moment. His eyes were itchy and felt puffy. His throat was raw from crying but his heart felt lighter than it had since Haley’s death._ _

__“Better,” he answered honestly._ _

__“Good. I’ve been worried about you.”_ _

__“I know.” He tried to bury himself down into the chest beneath him, pulling the covers up and over his head. Slowly, Spencer dragged them back down._ _

__“No,” Spencer whispered. “No more hiding, okay? That’s what brought you to that point. Promise you’ll talk to me. That’s all I ask.”_ _

__“Okay,” he agreed. It felt good to let go and give in, especially to Spencer._ _

__They laid there, letting the silence settle around them as they soaked in each other’s heat. Finally, Spencer whispered, “That was actually pretty hot yesterday.”_ _

__Aaron’s head shot up and he propped himself up on his elbow so he could clearly see the other man’s face. “What was?”_ _

__Spencer was blushing and it reminded Aaron of how much he wanted this genius before him. After he cleared his throat a couple of times, he admitted, “When you took charge at the Porter house. You were so commanding and in charge. For those few moments, you were Unit Chief Aaron Hotchner. When you told him to sit down and shut up..?”_ _

__Spencer shuddered and sighed as his eyes fluttered closed at the memory. Aaron watched in awe, wondering at this turn of events. Feeling emboldened by the other man’s reaction, he leaned up and over, pressing just the barest hint of a kiss against the corner of Spencer’s mouth. When he wasn’t immediately rebuked and pushed away, he leaned in and did it again, a little more forcefully this time. A small gasp and parting of his lips tempted Aaron even further so he sealed his lips over Spencer’s, snaking out his tongue to just barely dip inside. A gasp and groan and Spencer’s back was arching off the bed. Aaron broke away long enough to look down and check the front of Spencer’s sleep pants. To his delight, he saw a impressive tenting that made his mouth water._ _

__“Aaron,” Spencer whispered, his voice hoarse and strained. When Aaron looked up into his sleepy, lust-filled hazel eyes, his breath caught in his throat. “We shouldn’t.”_ _

__Aaron climbed on top of the prone man, settling his knees on either side of Spencer’s hips. With his hands braced over Spencer’s head, he slowly lowered himself down until he was plastered against Spencer’s front and they were sharing each panting breath._ _

__“Probably not,” he responded as he leaned down to reclaim Spencer’s mouth. This time there was no resisting, no protests. Spencer accepted his tongue and his passion as if he were made for it. Aaron lost himself in the perfection of it. He drowned in this feeling. He had the thought that he could die right now and he would be happy._ _

__Suddenly they were pulled out for that perfect moment by an insistent knocking on their door._ _

__“Come on, Sleepyheads!” Derek shouted through the door. “We need to get down to breakfast. Plane leaves in forty and we gotta be on it.”_ _

__Aaron’s head shot up as he shouted, “Fuck off, Derek!”_ _

__“Aaron,” Spencer hissed at the upset teen._ _

__“I’ll let you have that one, Hotchner but you two need to get your asses moving or I’m leaving you in Alaska.”_ _

__They listened as angry footsteps stomped down the hallway and then down the stairs. Once they were gone, Aaron leaned down to resume his attack on the man beneath him but  
Spencer reached up and placed his hands firmly on Aaron’s shoulders, keeping him at arm’s length. _ _

__“Aaron. He’s right. We need to get going.”_ _

__“No,” he complained, his voice high and whiny. “It’s not fair. We just got here.”_ _

__Spencer chuckled lightly as he moved to get out of the bed, leaving a very disgruntled Aaron staring at him incredulously._ _

__“Un-fucking-believable!”_ _

__*************_ _

__Aaron spent all of breakfast and the entire trip on the seaplane pouting. Everyone gave him a wide berth thinking that he was still upset over the confrontation with Mr. Porter, but of course, Spencer knew better._ _

__He had done his best to get the moody teen to smile by getting him coffee and fixing it just the way he liked, poking him with his foot under the table, and surreptitiously touching him every chance he got. Still, Aaron was not happy. So before they boarded the jet, Spencer grabbed Aaron by the elbow and held him back while everyone else climbed aboard. When he was sure they were alone, he reached up and tucked a stray piece of hair behind his ear before leaning in for a small kiss._ _

__“I’m sorry you’re upset that we got interrupted this morning but it really is for the best. If we went any further than we had, I would have felt terrible. You understand that, right?”_ _

__Aaron studied him for a moment, searching for any teasing or deception. Finding none, he sighed as he leaned into Spencer’s gentle touch. Spencer quickly darted forward and dropped a quick peck on his lips._ _

__“What do you say we head home?”_ _

__Aaron couldn’t help the smile stretching across his face as they climbed the steps up to the cabin. Once they were in a settled, they all fell into their normal routines of finding a comfortable place to sit and decompress. Derek was in Hotch’s normal seat, working on reports, earbuds firmly in place. Rossi and Reid were reading books and surreptitiously listening in as Aaron played poker with the girls. Despite a fair amount of flirting and memories from before, Aaron was still getting his ass handed to him by the trio.  
Spencer fought back a laugh as he watched the teen loose yet another hand when his phone vibrated loudly in his pocket. Rossi, who sitting across from him, simply raised a eyebrow as he answered the call. _ _

__“Dr. Reid,” he said quietly._ _

__“Dr. Reid, I’ve been trying to get ahold of you.”_ _

__“Dr. Kimura,” Spencer said, wide eyed instantly snapping up to meet Aaron’s own. “What’s going on?”_ _

__“I’ve been trying to reach you for days,” The Doctor said quickly, her voice just this side of hysterical. “I even tried the emergency number you gave me.”_ _

__“We’ve been up in Alaska without any cell service. Ms. Garcia is here with us. We apparently just came back into signal range. What’s so urgent?”_ _

__Dr. Kimura sighed on the other end of the line. “We’ve made a breakthrough. I think I know how to fix this.”_ _

__Spencer’s eyes grew wide as he gasped out loud. “Really?”_ _

__“Yes. How soon can you get Agent Hotchner here?”_ _

__Spencer froze. He knew this was the goal, this was what they all wanted but suddenly he wasn’t so ready to say goodbye to this Aaron just yet. “It’s going to be a extremely long flight and we are all exhausted, both mentally and physically. Do you think we could have a couple of days?”_ _

__There was hesitation on the other end of the line. “Maybe. I’m not sure how stable the solution is but so far it stable. I suggest you call me when you land and we decide on a timeline then.”_ _

__“Very good. I’ll talk to you then,” Spencer said as he ended the call._ _

__When he looked up, all eyes were on him. No one dared to say anything until Aaron finally asked, “So? What did she say?”_ _

__Spencer stared at him for a moment before he broke into a huge grin. “She’s figured it out. She can get you back.”_ _

__Everyone yelled, whooping and hollering with excitement. JJ, who was sitting next to Aaron, reached over and gathered him in her arms, squeezing him tight._ _

__“This calls for a celebration!” Rossi said as he stood and made his way back toward the galley._ _

__Aaron and Spencer locked eyes, silently communicating with all the noise around them. Trepidation swirled between them and Spencer knew they needed to talk very soon._ _

__Rossi came back into the main cabin carrying multiple glasses and a beautiful crystal container filled with amber liquid._ _

__“You’ve been hiding the good stuff!” Emily crowed as Dave began to pass out the glasses._ _

__He waited until after everyone had one before he began to pour some out into all the glasses including Aaron’s. Once they all had some, he lifted his glass high, addressing the  
team. _ _

_“This scotch is older than Aaron currently is but I think I speak for the whole team when I say that we will be happy to have you back to your old self, Aaron. Salud!”_  
They all called back their own greeting as they sipped at the contents of their glasses - all except for Aaron who downed his in one go. He coughed and sputtered, choking on the  
strong alcohol. Rossi reached over and plucked the glass from his hand. 

__“And this is why we do not give children twenty year of scotch.”_ _

__“Hey!” Aaron complained. “It’s been awhile, alright. Just one more?”_ _

__Dave scrutinized the boy before pouring out one finger more. “Sip that,” he commanded, “or I’m coming over to your place and confiscating that bottle I gave you for Christmas.”_ _

__Aaron did as commanded and smiled at the rest of the team as he felt his cheeks heat up from the alcohol._ _

__“It’ll be nice to hand the reins back to you, Hotch,” Morgan admitted. “It’s not a easy job, that’s for sure. I don’t know how you do it all with Jack and everything else.”_ _

__“It’s hard sometimes,” Aaron replied as he took another sip. “Things get put by the wayside. I’d like to have more time to do the things I like. I’ve liked playing soccer and helping with Jack’s team. That will be hard to give up.”_ _

__“Well, maybe I can help with that,” Derek said with a small smile. “Now that I know the paperwork, I can take some of that busy work off your hands.”_ _

__“And I’ll take over Spencer’s evaluations,” Rossi said with a wink and a smirk. “Just reviewing the kid’s case reports and cold case reviews should free you up at least two or three hours a day.”_ _

__They all laughed at that despite both Aaron and Spencer flushing brightly at the implications._ _

__JJ reached over again, wrapping her arms around Aaron’s neck. “I’m going to miss hugging you like this. It’s been nice.”_ _

__“And I’m going to miss your smile,” Emily said as she leaned forward, dropping her chin into her hand as propped her elbow on the table between them. “Those dimples are lethal.  
It’s kinda fun to watch you disarm people with them.”_ _

__“Really?” The teen said, flashing his teeth in blinding smile, dimples popping brilliantly. “Tell me more.”_ _

__Prentiss reached over and smacked him lightly on the shoulder. “God, seriously? How did you not have girls throwing their panties at you all time?”_ _

__“Who says I didn’t?”_ _

__They all laughed loudly, sipping and smiling. It got quiet for a minute and Penelope sighed._ _

__“I’m going miss you coming into my lair and just talking to me.”_ _

__Aaron looked around at all of his team. “What makes you think I’m going anywhere? I’m still Aaron. Am I really that different?”_ _

__Spencer sat back and waited to see what they were going to say._ _

__“You’re just more…” Garcia started._ _

__“Relaxed,” JJ tried._ _

__“Easygoing,” Emily interjected._ _

__“Is that how you all see me?” He asked, his voice sounding both hurt and angry. “I’m just an unhappy, uptight asshole?”_ _

__“Hey, now we never said that, Hotch,” Morgan jumped in. “Even you admit you were a bit of a taskmaster. Don’t get me wrong, after doing all your work, I get why you’d be a little rough on us, especially over budget stuff. Those number make my eyes swim, but it not unreasonable for us to expect you’d go back to that. We like you like this but we need Unit  
Chief Aaron Hotchner back. He’s the one that keeps this unit running.”_ _

__Aaron sighed, slamming back the rest of his scotch. “Not without all the rest of you.” He looked at all of them. “You did a great job while I’ve been like this. We made it work.”_ _

__“We did,” Spencer said, finally pulling the attention to himself. “They aren’t saying they don’t like you as Unit Chief Aaron Hotchner, Aaron. But we need you. You don’t have to be exactly who you were before. In fact, I can’t imagine that you would be after all you’ve been through. But we need you back. I need you back.”_ _

__Silence reigned for a few moments until Aaron nodded and said, “Yeah. Besides, I’m tired of being a teenager. This being young thing kinda sucks ass.”_ _

__They all chuckled and settled in for the rest of the flight. It wasn’t long before the alcohol had it effects and Aaron was sound asleep, head pillowed in JJ’s lap. Once they were assured he was completely asleep, the team talked about what they would do if the plan failed._ _

__Spencer just smiled, knowing no matter what, this team would be there for the both of them._ _

__*************_ _

__Once they landed back home, Morgan sent everyone home with the blessing of Erin Strauss. She had been updated by both Rossi and Spencer about how Aaron had done on the case and the impending experiment so she gave the entire team the remainder of the week off pending any other new cases the other teams couldn’t take. Spencer drove Aaron home, happy to tuck the young man into bed. The jet lag was rough on everyone so they’d agreed to meet at noon for lunch the next day._ _

__Despite the mind numbing drag on Spencer, the genius couldn’t sleep. He was worried. He worried whether the experiment would work. He worried about Jack and how the little boy would handle having his father back or dealing with him as a boy for a while longer. He worried about the unknown cure despite the fact that he had put his own life in Dr. Kimura’s hands before. He worried that Aaron really would go back to how he was before. Would Aaron still want him, be as affectionate and spontaneous? He’d loved all the teasing and despite himself, the torture the boy had put him through had only turned up the heat on his need and desire for Aaron. He’d wanted him more than ever and keeping his hands off Aaron, teenager or not, was becoming harder and harder._ _

__Originally, he had decided to ask Jessica to keep Jack overnight but then he talked to JJ would had convinced him to bring the boy home. If anything, the boys would need the emotional support of one another before the day ahead of them._ _

__As he sat in the dark alone, only the glow of the light from above the range in the kitchen to illuminate the apartment, Spencer wondered if he would welcomed here after Aaron was back to himself. Suddenly he felt a small tapping on his shoulder. He turned to look right into Jack’s sad, sleepy eyes._ _

__“Hey, Buddy,” he whispered, pulling himself from his dark thoughts. “What’s up?”_ _

__“I’m thirsty,” the boy said in sleepy voice._ _

__Spencer chuckled softly. “Come on. Let’s get you a drink.”_ _

__He took the boy by his hand and led him to the kitchen, fetching him a class of water. He lifted Jack up, settling him on the counter so the boy could drink. Once he had finished.  
Spencer sat the glass in the sink and asked, “Ready to head back to bed?”_ _

__Jack sleepily shook his head._ _

__“What’s the matter?”_ _

__Jack reached out, wrapping his little arms around Spencer’s neck as he began to cry._ _

__“Hey. Hey, what’s up, Jack?”_ _

__“Aunt Jessica said that you found a way to bring Dad back but I don’t want Aaron to go away.”_ _

__Spencer sighed. He had been worried about this. He scooped the boy up off the counter and wandered back toward Aaron’s room. He opened the door and stood there, watching the teen sleep for several minutes. He leaned his head in close to Jack and whispered, “That is your dad, Jack. It doesn’t matter that he’s only eighteen right now. He’s your dad now and he’ll be your dad tomorrow, no matter what happens. Do you understand?”_ _

__The little boy nodded even though he was pretty sure he didn’t. Instead, he walked him back to his own room, tucking him into his bed. After pressing a small kiss to the boy’s  
head, he wished him a good night before crawling into his own despite the fact that he knew sleep would not come. _ _

__*************_ _

__They were all gathered around the hospital bed in a isolated wing waiting for Dr. Kimura to come back. She and Spencer had wandered off for one final check of the formula. Spencer insisted on going over all her research. At first she had protested but Spencer’s phenomenal reading speed put her at ease that it wouldn’t delay the procedure for long.  
They walked in together, Spencer immediately walking up to the head of the bed, leaning down to whisper in Aaron’s ear. _ _

__“The calculations are good. I can’t find any glaring errors. I really think this is going to work.”_ _

__“We should send Jack out,” Aaron said, concern for his son on his voice._ _

__The boy, who was seated at the door of the bed immediately protested. “No! I wanna stay!”_ _

__Aaron looked at Spencer as Jack scrambled up his body to clung to his dad’s neck. “It might be a little scary, Buddy,” Spencer explained as he got down to Jack height._ _

__“Yeah,” Garcia jumped in. “I’m not staying.”_ _

__“You’re not?” Jack asked._ _

__“Nope. I’m happy to wait and see your dad after it’s all done. You wanna come with me and see if we can find some hot cocoa and maybe some pudding?”_ _

__“Chocolate pudding?”_ _

__“Is there any other kind?”_ _

__Aaron chuckled as Jack sat up and looked at him, tears still glimmering in his eyes. “Can I Dad?”_ _

__“Of course. Have fun with Miss Penelope and I’ll see you after.”_ _

__Jack pressed a kiss to his cheek and then Garcia stepped forward, pressing a kiss to his forehead, leaving a bright, brilliant pink kiss mark behind._ _

__

__“Leave that,” she said with a smile as she helped Jack off the bed. “That way I’ll know it’s really you.”_ _

__Aaron couldn’t help but mouth a quick “thank you” to her despite himself._ _

__Once they were gone, Dr. Kimura stepped forward with a large syringe in her hand. “Are we ready for this?”_ _

__Aaron looked around at his team and family. They smiled back him and knew he had to do this despite his fear that it wouldn’t work - or worse, that it would. He looked up to  
Spencer for one last bit of reassurance. The tawny haired genius smiled before leaning down to take Aaron’s mouth in a scalding kiss. When he pulled back, Spencer just smiled and said, “See you on the other side.”_ _

__Aaron tore his eyes away to look at everyone in the room before nodding at the doctor standing beside the bed. Dr. Kimura stepped forward before connecting the end of the syringe to the port in the IV the nurse had already placed in his arm. He waited, bracing himself, but nothing happened. He looked first at Spencer and then Dr. Kimura. The doctor held up her hand, signaling for him to wait. He settled back into the bed and closed his eyes. Still nothing. Growing impatient, he sat up and glared at the doctor._ _

__“When the fuck is this suppose..?!”_ _

__Suddenly it hit. It felt like every cell in his body was imploding and then expanding right under his skin. He was burning up and freezing cold and heard a unnatural sound in his ears. It took a moment for Aaron to realize that it was his own voice. He was screaming. His vision flashed white and then went black._ _

__**************_ _

__“Jesus fucking Christ,” Aaron whispered as he clawed his way back to consciousness. He tried to open his eyes but snapped them closed again at the brightness in the room. “Y’all mind turning off a light or two? Light’s a mite bright.”_ _

__He heard a small gasp and realized it was JJ. The experiment. The supposed cure. But he still had the accent. It didn’t work._ _

__“Well fuck me,” he grumbled as his head fell back against the pillow, defeated._ _

__“Well, that’s not the kind of language I would expect a man your age to use,” Dr. Kimura said with a small laugh._ _

__“What are you on about, Doc?” He grumbled._ _

__Slowly, he opened his eyes as stared down at his body. The hospital gown and sleep pants he’d changed into before the procedure didn’t reveal much, but Aaron recognized those arms - his arms. They were tan and muscular with a thick coating of black hair, so unlike the smooth, skinny arms of his youth._ _

__His eyes shot up, looking around wildly for confirmation._ _

__“It worked?!”_ _

__They all smiled and laughed, several people nodding their heads._ _

__“I need to see.”_ _

__A mirror was quickly placed in his hand and Aaron looked himself over. It was him - just like he’d remembered - only not quite. He was back to his original age but there were subtle differences. He’d retained some of his tan and his skin was more even than it had been. Sure, he still had some crow’s feet around his eyes but he had more laugh lines than wrinkles. The hair gracing his temples held none of the grey that had been peeking out before. He looked like himself - only better._ _

__“It worked!” He yelled, smiling around at the team as they all cheered. Suddenly his face dropped. “But why do I still have the accent?”_ _

__“Well,” Rossi offered. “It took you years of training to lose the accent the first time around. It’s literally only been, what, fifteen minutes since you had it last. It’ll take a while to lose it again, I’m sure.”_ _

__Aaron pondered for moment. “Maybe I don’t want to lose it again?”_ _

__“Do you mean it?” Spencer asked._ _

__“Yeah. I only lost it the first time because of the perception of having a Southern accent as an attorney. I didn’t want people making assumptions about me just because of the way  
I talk.”_ _

__“And now?” JJ asked._ _

__Aaron smiled a wicked smile her way. “Now I don’t give a flying fuck.”_ _

__“Okay,” Dave said as he stepped forward, patting Aaron lightly on the shoulder. “Your trip back to Neverland may have done wonders for your self-esteem but we will need to do something about your language if you’re going to be coming back as Unit Chief, Aaron.”_ _

__“Ha ha,” he teased back. He smiled at each of them, pleased at how easy it felt, how good it felt. It was an even better feeling when they smiled back. “Can someone go get Jack  
please?”_ _

__“Right here, sir!” Penelope called as she was pulled into the room by a overly enthusiastic Jack. “I got the text for my Nubian god and we came a runnin’ - literally for Jack.”_ _

__Jack practically leapt up onto the bed as he shouted, “Dad! You’re back!”_ _

__“I am, Buddy,” Aaron said with a blinding smile, kissing his boy soundly on the cheek._ _

__Jack gasped at him. “You still sound funny.”_ _

__“I probably will for a while. Is that alright?”_ _

__Jack stopped, a very serious look on his face, before he answered, “I guess. Oh! It’ll be like I have you _and_ him here all at the same time!”_ _

__Aaron laughed. It was just like Jack to come through something like this with understanding and still be the same loving, trusting boy he always was._ _

__“Yup. I guess it will.”_ _

__“Forgive me for saying it but someone has to - looking good, Sir!” Garcia practically purred as she stepped closer to the bed. “Fountain Of Youth does a body good!”_ _

__“Hey, hey, hey now,” Morgan interrupted. “You better pump your brakes there, Baby Girl.”_ _

__“What?!” Penelope protested. “He looks good. Like really good with the floppy hair and dimpled smile. Just look at the way he glows!”_ _

__“Penny,” Hotch groaned softly, his cheeks heating up._ _

__“She’s not wrong, you know,” Emily added._ _

__“You too?!”_ _

__“What? He looks good. Doesn’t he, Spencer?”_ _

__All eyes turned to the genius. He stood, frozen to the spot, mouth opening and closing as he fought for what to say. Finally, Garcia took pity on him. “See? Even Spencer thinks the Boss Man’s hotness level has skyrocketed. He is most definitely a swipe right.”_ _

__“Okay, Little Mama, that’s enough. Let’s go get you something to drink that might cool you off a little.”_ _

__Derek quickly began to direct Garcia out of the hospital room, despite the Technical Analysts protests. Everyone else began to file out after quickly saying their goodbyes as they slipped out of the room leaving only Aaron, Jack, Spencer and Rossi behind._ _

__“I’ll get a hold of Erin and let her know that it worked. I’m sure she’s still going to insist on the rest of the week off. Take your time and enjoy just being back.”_ _

__Aaron nodded with a small thank you before looking at Spencer._ _

__“Take care of him and make sure he doesn’t do anything stupid this week, please.”_ _

__Spencer smiled back. “I’ll do my best.”_ _

__“See that you do.” Rossi patted Aaron’s leg as he smiled at him fondly. “Glad to have you back, Aaron.”_ _

__“Thanks, Dave.”_ _

__Aaron looked up at Spencer with a small smile. “Looks like it worked.”_ _

__“It looks like it.”_ _

__“I’m ready to go home,” he said, sounding just about a tired as he felt._ _

__Spencer smiled softly, brushing his fingers over Aaron’s newly scruffy cheek. “I’ll go find Dr. Kimura. She wanted to check you over before she discharged you.”_ _

__Aaron quietly agreed and sat back to wait, closing his eyes at the bright lights. It was quiet in the small hospital room for several minutes until he heard the tiniest clearing of a  
throat. He peeked open one eye to find Jack regarding him intently._ _

__“Yeah?” He asked suspiciously._ _

__“Did you mean it?” Jack asked._ _

__“Mean what?”_ _

__“You’re still you, right Dad?”_ _

__Aaron chuckled a little. “That I am.”_ _

__“And you ‘member everything that happened from when you changed?”_ _

__“Remember,” Aaron corrected before he paused. He thought back, reviewing the last few weeks in his mind. “Yeah, I believe I do.”_ _

__“So did you mean it when you told me that you would fight to keep Spencer?”_ _

__Aaron gasped a little, suddenly remembering the conversation he’d had with Jack one night as they were watching movies while Spencer was cleaning the kitchen. Jack had asked  
if the genius was still going to be around after Aaron changed back and young Aaron had promised that he would do everything in his power to show Spencer that he was in love with the younger man and would almost anything to keep him in their lives. But now that he was here, he was unsure if it was a good idea._ _

__“I did...at the time, Buddy,” Aaron started not quite trusting his voice. “But now that I’m old again I just don’t…”_ _

__“No!” Jack yelled. “You promised! I said, you can’t change your mind and now that you’re big again you have to tell Spencer that you love him. You promised!”_ _

__Aaron was about to try to calm his son when he heard a small gasp from the open hospital door. Spencer was standing there, mouth open as he froze in shock. He’d obviously heard the bombshell that Jack had just dropped. Aaron began to panic._ _

__“Spencer...I ...he…”_ _

__Jack jumped off the bed and practically sprinted toward the genius leaning against the doorframe._ _

__“You have to stay, Spencer,” Jack begged. “Please. Dad told me before that he loves you, he has been but he was too scared to say something and I didn’t want him to back out just because he’s back and now he’s scared but I want you to stay, Spencer.”_ _

__Spencer looked down at the boy who was practically in tears as he rambled off words that he only half heard. He looked at Aaron, waiting for a confirmation or a denial. When he got none, he knelt down in front of Jack._ _

__“Well, Jack, I guess we are just going to have to see what your dad says about it. I’m in love with him too but he’s going to have to do something about it.” Spencer looked up, locking eyes with Aaron, a small challenge hidden there. “Do you think he only had the courage to say something because he was young or do you think he’s strong enough to admit it now?”_ _

__“He’s strong _and_ brave, aren’t you, Dad?” Jack nearly shouted as he ran toward the bed, plopping down next to his father’s legs. “Tell him.” When Aaron paused, Jack bounced up and down on the bed. “Tell him!”_ _

__Aaron looked up as Spencer approached the edge of the bed. When he was close enough, Aaron reached out and grabbed the younger man’s hand, twining his fingers in between Spencer’s long, elegant ones. Once the had the hand tightly in his own, he pulled down hard, catching Spencer off balance so the man practically tumbled into the bed with him. Spencer’s face was close so he leaned in the rest of the way, pressing his lips to Spencer's ear._ _

__“Gonna fight dirty, are ya’?” He asked. “Shoulda known you would use my own competitive spirit against me.”_ _

__Spencer chuckled lightly. “All’s fair in love and war,” he answered._ _

__“Couldn’t have said it better myself.”_ _

__Aaron shifted until Spencer lips were beneath his own before he pressed up, taking them in a long, languid kiss. He lost himself for a moment, breathing in and tasting the man he’s dreamed of for so long._ _

__He didn’t stop until he heard the clearing of a throat behind Spencer. When they pulled away, they saw Dr. Kimura smiling at them, clipboard in hand._ _

__“I’d say get a room but you’re in a room so get a room that’s not my room,” she said goodnaturedly._ _

__“That’s what I’m tryin’ to do, Woman,” Aaron complained._ _

__“Aaron!” Spencer snapped as he moved away so the doctor could begin her examination. “What do we say?”_ _

__Aaron dropped his eyes before muttering, “Sorry, ma’am.”_ _

__When Jack chuckled, Spencer leaned forward and whispered into the doctor’s ear, “You know? I could get used to this.”_ _

__In less than an hour, they were on their way home. It had been a near comical moment when Aaron immediately went to the passenger side door at the same time as Spencer, the two men staring at each other is shock. Spencer had calmly taken the keys and made his way over to the driver’s seat before settling in to drive them all home._ _

__Aaron sighed as he looked around his apartment. Despite having been there just a few hours before, it still felt weird being here now that he was back to normal. Spencer and Jack fell immediately into their roles, going about their business like nothing was out of the norm, but Aaron felt like he didn’t know what to do._ _

__Finally, Spencer walked over to him, stopping in front of him._ _

__“Are you alright, Aaron?”_ _

__Aaron sighed, closing his eyes tightly before opening them again. He looked at Spencer as he suddenly deflated. “I feel like I don’t know what to do anymore. I’m still feel like half  
me and half him and I…”_ _

__Spencer leaned forward and quickly pressed a small kiss to his lips, silencing him from his rambling thoughts. “Aaron. There is no “you” or “him”. It is all you and I like that. I like all of you, regardless of the hell you tried to put me through.”_ _

__Aaron chuckled lightly, pulling Spencer into his arms. “I am sorry about that…mostly.”_ _

__Spencer laughed softly. “See what I mean? It’s all you.”_ _

__They pulled apart and Spencer took his hand, pulling him into the apartment and down the hallway. When Aaron realized where they were headed, he stopped cold, looking at Spencer in shock._ _

__“Spencer,” he whispered harshly, “What are you doing? Jack is still awake!”_ _

__“Are you sure about that?” Spencer countered with a smirk._ _

__Aaron poked his head into Jack’s bedroom, surprised to see the boy all tucked in and sound asleep. “When did that happen?” he asked._ _

__“While you were standing in the living room having your identity crisis,” Spencer explained. “It’s been a rough day for him too and he asked if he could go to bed early. I figure we can talk a few things out but we should plan on being up early, just in case.”_ _

__Aaron stepped in close, wrapping his arms around the younger man’s waist and pulling him in flush to his body. “We should plan on being up early? As in “us’, as in “the both of us”, like “in bed together?”, like…”_ _

__“Well that just proves you still have at least part of the teenager in your brain.” Spencer laughed at the put-out look on Aaron’s face before he reached up, wrapping his arms around Aaron’s neck and threading his fingers through the still too long locks. “You have spent the last few weeks teasing me to the end of my rope. I want you to follow through, Aaron or are you going to back down now?”_ _

__Aaron smirked at the challenge before he half-growled as he reached down to grab the back of Spencer’s thighs, deftly lifting him up. Spencer quickly wrapped his legs around Aaron’s narrow waist, locking his ankles together to keep from falling or slipping. Staring into his eyes, Aaron swiftly made his way down the hallway toward the bedroom. He kicked the door open, never breaking eye contact. Once he had kicked the door closed, Spencer started to move as if he was going to get down but Aaron was having none of it.  
He stalked toward the bed, dropping one knee onto the soft mattress to brace himself before he descended down onto the small man._ _

__Spencer gasped at the look of pure want and need in the deep brown eyes. It was a look he’d grown familiar with while living with Aaron as a teen, but this was all manly desire.  
“Aaron,” he whispered. “I need to see you.”_ _

__“You’ve been seeing me,” the older man practically purred. “I’ve been making sure of it.”_ _

__“No. I want to see you. _This_ you. You were a good looking kid, don’t get me wrong, but I love this version of you and that’s what I want to see.”_ _

__“How long?” Aaron asked as he moved to kneel on the bed, slowly pulling his shirt over his head._ _

__“From the moment we met,” Spencer whispered, his voice filled with want and desire. “I knew I was too young and you were too married, but god I wanted you.”_ _

__Aaron smiled as he began to remove his belt. “I had no idea I loved you until I watched you die.”_ _

__Spencer’s breath caught in his throat._ _

__“When I held you in that graveyard, I knew I had to pass you along, get you to someone else, because I knew if I didn’t, I’d never want to let you go.”_ _

__Spencer shivered, shocked at the blatant desire shining down at him. Slowly, he reached up and began to help Aaron until the fastenings on his jeans. Their hands clashed and tangled as they fought to get Aaron’s pants open until finally the older man gripped Spencer’s wrists tightly, pressing his arms down onto the bed._ _

__“Stay,” Aaron commanded, pining the genius to the bed with a stare. Once he was sure that Spencer wasn’t going to move, he knelt up again, slowly undoing his pants._ _

__“Great,” Spencer complained. “I thought once you got back to the right age you’d stop teasing me.”_ _

__“You thought wrong.”_ _

__Aaron stood up, never breaking eye contact with the prone man on the bed, as he slipped off first his shoes and socks and then peeled the jeans from his long, muscular legs.  
Spencer gasped when he realized Aaron had been walking around without any underwear._ _

__“Yep,” he groaned. “You’re going to be the death of me.”_ _

__Aaron chuckled as he moved back to kneel over him. “Ah yes, but what a way to go.”_ _

__Spencer soon felt fingers reaching up to begin liberating buttons from their holes on Spencer's shirt. Once it was open, Aaron ran his hands up the opening of the parted fabric before spreading them wide, exposing Spencer’s chest to his gaze._ _

__He took a deep breath in to calm himself before he whispered, “Damn, Love. Where have you been hiding all these muscles? You look so good I think my mouth is watering.”_ _

__Spencer shivered, basking in the sweet words falling from Aaron’s lips in that sweet, slow accent._ _

__“Please, Aaron,” he groaned, back arching as he begged for more._ _

__“Oh no,” Aaron said with a smile as he slowly pushed the shirt over his shoulders. “You made me wait all this time, Dr. Reid, and now that I am here, I am determined to enjoy every. Single. Minute.”_ _

__Spencer shuddered with desire, arching and writhing on the bed, trying to get Aaron to move faster, to no avail. Aaron would not be deterred. He took his time in undressing Spencer piece by piece, taking him apart a little at a time. When he finally pulled off the last sock, he stood between Spencer’s parted legs, staring down at the naked, aching man before him._ _

__He reached up, wrapping his fingers around his hard cock. “Spensah,” he groaned, low and dirty. “I’ve dreamed about this for so long.”_ _

__“Me too,” Spencer groaned, his hands still firmly on the bed by his head._ _

__“So many things I want to do to you, but first, I think I need to feel your mouth on me.”_ _

__“God, yes!” Spencer gasped as he jumped up and scrambled to the edge of the bed. As soon as he was close enough to touch, he reached up and placed his palms on the strong hips, wrapping his fingers around his waist. He looked up and they locked eyes as Spencer leaned forward and licked a single stripe up the hard cock before circling the head. He groaned at the taste of him, surprised to hear an answering groan from above him. He opened his mouth, taking in the entire head of the cock into him, testing the weight and feel of it on his tongue. This was amazing, so much more than he ever expected. Slowly he began to move down, taking in more and more of the hard cock until the head bumped his throat and he backed off just as slowly. Fingers began to sink in his hair, threading and tangling in the soft curls. Aaron gripped and moved, slowly, tenderly, feeling his way in and out of the depths of Spencer’s mouth._ _

__“Fuck,” Aaron groaned as his hips began to move faster, rolling and thrusting, begging for more. Spencer was up to the challenge, sitting up for better leverage as he relaxed his  
throat before swallowing Aaron nearly all the way down. _ _

__“Fuck!” He shouted again, pulling hard on the chestnut locks to get Spencer to stop even though he didn’t want to. The hardness, now glistening with spit, dropped from his lips and Spencer nearly whined at the loss._ _

__“I can’t,” Aaron gasped, falling down on his knees and taking Spencer’s lips in a fierce kiss. Once he pulled away, he dropped his forehead to Spencer’s own. “Too good. Christ, you are too fucking good. I don’t want to come until I’m inside you.”_ _

__“I thought your refractory period was amazing,” Spencer teased._ _

__“That was this morning,” Aaron shot back, “You know, when I was still a teenager. Now that I’m forty five again, I can’t guarantee that I can bounce back as quickly.”_ _

__“There’s one way to find out.” Spencer tried to waggle his eyebrows at Aaron which only made the older man laugh._ _

__“We could check yours.” Aaron’s hands, the ones that had been exploring Spencer’s naked chest, now moved downward even farther, trailing lightly over his aching cock before dipping down to cup his balls. Spencer could only gasp and nod at the delicious treatment. Soon Aaron’s lips followed the trail of his hands until he was licking up the beads of need welling up on the tip of Spencer’s dick._ _

__“O-o-okay,” Spencer gasped as Aaron’s mouth continued to do wicked things to him, things that proceeded to turn his brain into mush. He copied Aaron’s actions from earlier and gripped the longish raven lock in his fingers, pulling lightly when he heard the encouraging noises his lover was making. “I like this,” he whispered. “The longer hair makes you look younger, almost roguish. I wish you would keep it.”_ _

__Aaron popped off the long, hard cock in his mouth to smile up at him. “Your wish is my command.”_ _

__“Really?” Spencer had a wicked gleam in his eyes. “Well, I wish you would get up here and fuck me already. You’ve been teasing me for weeks on end I just might be at my breaking point.”_ _

__“Are you sure you don’t want to wait a little longer? Make sure I’m really back to being me? Or maybe you’d like me to tease you some more? Walk around half naked and jerk off in the shower, loudly calling your name? Tell me a part of you didn’t like it.”_ _

__“Ugh!” Spencer fell back on the bed, hating to admit it but knowing that Aaron was right. “Why are you so damned tempting. I swear you’re like Pothos on legs.”_ _

__“Really?” Aaron asked as he began to crawl up the prone body on the bed before him. “I thought I’d be more like Peitho or Eros.”_ _

__Spencer just smiled. He knew Aaron would not only understand the reference but be able to match his wit as well. It was one of his favorite things about Aaron - the man’s brain was a sexy as his body._ _

__“You can be any god you want as long as you fuck me right now.”_ _

__Aaron smiled at him in triumph. “Deal.”_ _

__The older man leaned down, gripping Spencer’s face in both hands before kissing him thoroughly. The genius was left gasping for breath when he suddenly pulled away before rummaging around in the drawer of his side table. Coming back with a well used tube of lube in his hand, Aaron pierced him with a searing gaze. “I have been waiting for this moment for so long. Will you let me have you, Spensah?”_ _

__He moaned loudly, his head pressing back into the bed again. He loved the way his name sounded falling from Aaron’s lips with that accent, all slick and smooth, almost like it was a dirty word in and of itself. “Say it again,” he begged._ _

__“What?” Aaron teased. “Spensah?” When the genius began to nod wildly, he just smirked. “Spensah?” He couldn’t hold back the long, dirty moan at that._ _

__“You like that, don’t ya, Spensah?”_ _

__Aaron had slicked his fingers and moved then slowly, pressing behind Spencer’s balls, slid the slick digits over his opening._ _

__“Do you like the way I sound, all proper Southern gentleman?”_ _

__The tip of his index finger penetrated his body, making him arch and groan._ _

__“You like the way I say your name, almost like it’s a curse and prayer? Because I have to tell you, it is. When I say your name, it is a curse and a prayer. A curse because I need you so much, it’s such like a great need that I feel like I can’t breathe unless you’re there. And a prayer because I want you, all of you, on me, in me, around me. All of that, Spensah, in just your name.”_ _

__All the while he had been talking, Aaron had been swiftly preparing him, dipping his fingers inside, opening and teasing and driving Spencer nearly insane with need and desire.  
He couldn’t do anything but moan out, “Yes.”_ _

__“Spensah?”_ _

__Aaron stopped poised above him, looking down at him with impossibly dark eyes that seemed to stare into his soul, his long dark locks falling over his face and hanging in his eyes. Looking up at him, Spencer had a revelation. This was Aaron, both then and now. The perfect combination of strong, sensible adult and headstrong, confident youth. Aaron had held onto both parts of himself, not yet beaten down by life but still smart and strong enough not to do anything foolish. It was a deadly combination that Spencer knew he could never deny._ _

__“What is, Love?” Aaron asked when Spencer had been quiet for too long._ _

__“You,” Spencer replied. “I thought you were amazing before. But now? Now I think you’re perfect.”_ _

__Aaron stared at him for a moment, stunned into silence, before he fell on Spencer, attacking him with lips and teeth and tongue. They fought for dominance, each of them fighting, aching for the other. During the struggle, Aaron ended up between Spencer’s legs so he reached down and hooked his elbows beneath Spencer’s shoulders. He hoisted them up, opening him up to his gaze, before he leaned forward, the head of cock kissing the stretched, slick opening. He looked up and, never breaking eye contact, slowly breached Spencer’s body, opening him up just on his cock._ _

__It was slow and painful and completely glorious. Spencer did his best to breathe and relax and let Aaron in. By the time the man was fully seated inside him, a small sheen of sweat had broken out across his body, making him feel like he was on fire._ _

__Once Aaron was fully seated, he stopped, looking into Spencer’s eyes and searching for any sign that he needed to stop. Seeing none, he pulled back before rolling his hips forward, the bones of his hips digging deeply into Spencer’s upturned cheeks._ _

__“Yes,” the genius groaned, gripping the trim waist of his lover with his thighs, aching to bring him closer. “Aaron,” he whispered, his voice rough and low. “Please.”  
It was all the permission Aaron needed as he pulled back, nearly leaving the warmth of the body beneath him before his hips snapped forward of their own accord, impaling him on the cock over again. Spencer nearly screamed at the abuse, loving the feeling of harshness of his lover’s need. Desire took over and Aaron’s body seemed to go on autopilot, his thrust pure instinct and need. Spencer could do nothing but hold on._ _

__They did their best to remain quiet so as to not wake Jack and the added thrill made Spencer arch and thrust all the more. His hands scrambled over the slick skin of Aaron’s back, leaving long, red rake marks in their wake but the older man didn’t seem to care, in fact, they only seemed to spur him on. Soon, Spencer felt the familiar pull in his belly.  
“Aaron,” he groaned, wanting, needing the other man to possess him completely. _ _

__Aaron pulled back just enough to stare down into the glassy, hazel eyes watching him. He reached down and wrapped his fingers around the hard cock pressing into him before  
he whispered, “Come for me, Spensah.”_ _

__That was all it took, as if it was the final piece of the puzzle, and Spencer was arching and gasping as his body shook and he came hard in long pulsing strands over Aaron’s hand.  
It took two more thrusts and then Aaron was following him over the edge, coming hard deep inside Spencer’s body._ _

__Several minutes passed before they were able to calm their wildly beating hearts, to get their gasping breaths under control. Reluctantly, Aaron shifted over, dropping off the side of Spencer’s body, slipping from his body but continuing to blanket him with his arms and legs._ _

__Once they were able to speak again, Aaron confessed, “I think I’m in love with you, Spensah Reid.”_ _

__Spencer chuckled softly, clutching the older man to him._ _

__“What?” Aaron asked._ _

__“I just can’t believe we are here,” he said softly. “That we went through all of this to get here.”_ _

__Aaron rolled over onto his back, gathering the smaller man to his chest as they began to settle under the covers._ _

__“I wonder if we ever would have gotten here, you know, if I hadn’t gotten young again,” he pondered as he stared out into the dark room. “I wonder if the old me would have ever  
had the strength to get us to where we are now.”_ _

__“Maybe,” Spencer answered as he thought it over. “Maybe not. We were both kind of scared about the idea, weren’t we?”_ _

__Aaron chuckled lightly. “I guess we were.” After a moment of silence, he added, “It wasn’t easy but I’ve heard it said that nothing worth having ever is. And you, Spensah, are so worth having.”_ _

__Spencer sighed before he started chuckling. “You are going to use that against me, aren’t you?”_ _

__Aaron answered his chuckle right back. “Every chance I get.”_ _

__They shared one last kiss before snuggling down into the bed. As he began to drift off, Aaron honestly wondered if they would have ever gotten here without all they had been through over the last few weeks, but in all honesty, it didn’t matter. They were here now and now that he understood that time was the most precious thing they had, he wasn’t about to waste a single minute._ _

__

__~~~END~~_ _


End file.
